Young Carers Action Day 2026
According to the Carers Trust a carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without their support. This might sound familiar to a large number of our students. We recognise unique strengths that student carers bring to the college. We also appreciate that they might be facing specific challenges when studying at college. Our ambition is to provide tailored support to students with caring responsibilities to ensure they enjoy their time in college, and we help them exceed their potential.
This week we are celebrating young carers, and we take action in ensuring that our young carers have the same chance of learning and thriving in college as their peers who do not have caring responsibilities.
If you are an Edinburgh College student, please speak to your Learning Development Tutor, or Course Tutor, or reach out to our dedicated campus contacts via email – guidance@edinburghcollege.ac.uk, and make them aware of your responsibilities. We are here to support you.
Did you know?
We would like to remind all young carers that they might be eligible to a Young Carer Grant, a yearly payment of £390.25 for young carers in Scotland. To be able to get Young Carer Grant, you must be 16, 17, 18 years old. You need to be caring for at least one person for average of 16 hours per week for at least the last three months. For more information, please follow the links below:
https://www.mygov.scot/young-carer-grant/how-to-apply
https://young.scot/get-informed/young-carer-grant/
As a young carer, you have a right to have a Young Carer statement. The purpose of the plan is to help the person providing care to think about their caring role – their tasks, how it affects them. It helps them to reflect on their ambitions and needs – physical, mental and emotional. It will also help to come up with an emergency care plan, and work out what other services they might be able to turn to. It also explores options of possible additional financial support. More information can be found here: Edinburgh-YCS-leaflet-Interactive-FINAL.pdf