MCR Pathways welcomes the launch of a report published by WhoCares?Scotland for the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland to look at the barriers Care Experienced children face in education, and what needs to change.
The report reveals education is one of the top three issues for young people requesting advocacy from Who Cares? Scotland. Within education, the most common subject raised is ‘support in school’.
The report covers topics raised by young people including feelings of stigma and prejudice, mental health and emotional support, formal and informal exclusions, impact of care transitions, academic support, and additional support for learning.
Despite the Scottish Government’s pledge to keep The Promise – a commitment made after the Independent Care Review that Scotland would be the best place for Care Experienced children to grow up loved, safe, and respected – the new report by Who Cares? Scotland shows:
- Care Experienced children and young people are over-represented in rates of exclusions and are often subject to part-time timetables limiting their access to education;
- Support services for Care Experienced young people in education are not consistently available or meeting their needs, and;
- The right to independent advocacy can help keep The Promise.
Through no fault of their own, care experienced children and young people are still affected by a significant gap in outcomes, especially related to education, compared to their peers, and many organisations within the third sector have an important role to play.
MCR Pathways aims to meet every care experienced person wherever they are at in their educational journey, either as a whole-school approach or within caring communities, by providing a consistent, trusted adult in the form of a volunteer mentor.
Delivering a school-based mentoring service that includes group work and one-to-one mentoring sessions for young people, our programme builds confidence, instils self-belief and awakens ambition plus much more to promote positive post-school destinations.
Our 2024 Impact Report evidenced the transformational impact of this 1:1 relationship-based support for care experienced young people: 82% of care experienced young people engaging in our MCR Pathways’ programme progressed to college, university or employment in comparison to national care experienced young people average of 69%. Download our latest Impact Report.
Aligning to the recommendations made in this report, MCR Pathways will work until every care experienced young person in Scotland has a mentor that can provide support that will make a transformational impact lasting a lifetime, putting care experienced young people on a path of fulfillment, promise and hope that every young person deserves.
We will do so by working closely with our partners, including WhoCares?Scotland, as well as our mentors and young people to drive forward this much needed support and change.
Would you like to know more about our influencing and policy work?
Contact: mandy.choi@mcrpathways.org
