King's assists undergraduate students who have lost family contact and are no longer supported by their families through a series of supportive measures to facilitate a successful transition into, throughout and beyond your time at university. In order to access the support provided, your estranged student status must be verified by King’s. If you have started your undergraduate course at King’s and wish to get your status verified, you will need to complete the steps detailed in this article.
If you wish to find out more about the support available to estranged students, visit our article How does King's support estranged students throughout their studies?
Checking that you meet our definition of estrangement Our definition of an estranged person is someone who no longer has the support of both their parents (often this involves having no verbal or written contact), due to a breakdown in their relationship which has led to ceased contact, and is not set to change in the foreseeable future. This might mean your biological or, if you have been adopted, your adoptive parents – whoever has been responsible for supporting you in the past. If you are estranged from one parent and the other parent is deceased, we would also consider your application for support.
To be eligible for support at King’s you must also be under the age of 25 at the start of your undergraduate course, and be assessed as a home fee payer.
Important to know: If you are unsure whether you meet the criteria to be verified as estranged at King’s, please contact the King’s Money and Housing Advice Service for a consultation meeting, where they can discuss and advise on your circumstances.
Collecting your supporting documentation for submission
To complete the verification form, you will be required to submit supporting documentation to King’s to show that you meet King’s definition of estrangement. You need to submit two documents:
a) A letter or email from Student Finance confirming your estrangement status
Please submit the letter or email you received from the independent team at Student Finance confirming that you have been assessed as an independent student because you are irreconcilably estranged from both your parents. If you are estranged from one parent and the other parent is deceased, we would also consider your verification application for support.
Important to know: We do not accept application letters to be assessed as irreconcilably estranged. We only accept the outcome of your estrangement status from the independent team at student finance. To view what this letter would look like, please see our example Student Finance England estrangement confirmation letter (pdf).
b) Your notification of entitlement letter from Student Finance
This will help us ensure that you are receiving the correct amount of maintenance loan.
This information is usually sent to you in the post. If you no longer have a copy of the document, you can access a copy of this letter on your online Student Finance account under the tab letter and emails.
If you are unsure what this letter is, please see our example Student Finance England notification of entitlement award letter (pdf).
I need to be assessed as estranged
If you are estranged, the supporting documentation you will need to provide is the letter or email sent to you from Student Finance's independent team confirming that you have been assessed as an independent student because you are irreconcilably estranged from both your parents.
Important to know: We do not accept application letters to be assessed as irreconcilably estranged. We only accept the outcome of your estrangement status from the independent team at student finance. To view what this letter would look like, please see our example Student Finance England estrangement confirmation letter (pdf).
If you have not been assessed as estranged by Student Finance previously, please proceed with the following steps:
Check whether you meet our definition of estrangement, which is detailed at the start of this article.
Check the external Student Finance and UCAS pages to check whether you meet the definition of independent based on estrangement.
If you are unsure, contact the King's Money and House Advice Service for consultation on whether you would meet the criteria to be assessed by Student Finance England as independent due to estrangement.
Complete the Confirmation of Estrangement Form (pdf) and send it to Student Finance.
The form will need to be completed by an independent person of good standing in the community who knows the details of your estrangement from your parent(s). This could be:
I need to be reassessed as estranged
If you need to be reassessed as estranged by Student Finance, please follow steps 1-3 in the above section. Before submitting the form in step 4, contact Student Finance to explain your situation and that you would like a reassessment due to estrangement from your family. If your situation does not quite meet the definition of estrangement or you are unable to provide the requested supporting documentation in the confirmation of estrangement form, ask to speak to the independent team at Student Finance directly.
I have been assessed as estranged but am not in possession of the documentation
You will need to send an email to the estrangement team at Student Finance explaining that you need this information to access additional support at your university. They will usually be able to provide you with this information via email within a couple of days.
Important to know: King's are unable to access this information on your behalf as they are not allowed to share your information with anyone else.
I am having difficulties obtaining the documentation from Student Finance
When completing King's verification form for care-experienced and estranged students, if you struggle to obtain the necessary supporting documentation, you can answer ‘no’ to the question ‘Can you supply evidence that you are a care leaver, care-experienced or estranged.’
You should only answer no to this question after you have attempted to gather supporting documentation from Student Finance England.
You will then be asked to explain why you cannot provide the necessary supporting documentation. Please give as full an answer as possible, explaining the steps you have taken to obtain these documents.
If you are unsure, please contact King's Money and Housing Advice Service for a consultation meeting to discuss whether you would meet the criteria to be assessed by Student Finance England as independent due to estrangement from both parents.
What if I am both estranged and care-experienced?
If you are both care-experienced and estranged, you can select either of these on the form as the support you receive will be the same. Selecting estranged may be easier for you if you have already been assessed as estranged by student finance. You can read about the supporting documentation you would need to provide to be verified as care-experienced on the support for King's care-experienced and care leavers webpage.
You will need to send an email to the estrangement team at Student Finance explaining that you need this information to access additional support at your university. They will usually be able to provide you with this information via email within a couple of days.
Important to know: King's are unable to access this information on your behalf as they are not allowed to share your information with anyone else.
If you are both care-experienced and estranged, you can select either of these on the form as the support you receive will be the same. Selecting estranged may be easier for you if you have already been assessed as estranged by student finance. Read about the evidence you would need to provide to be verified as estranged on our estranged students article.
What is the Student Finance Notification of Entitlement Award Letter?
You will be asked to provide your Student Finance Notification of Entitlement award letter. This information is usually sent to you in the post. If you no longer have a copy of the document, you can access a copy of this letter on your online Student Finance account under the tab letter and emails. To see an example letter confirming estrangement status see our Student Finance England letter of entitlement (pdf).
Once you have checked you meet the definition for estrangement and collected your supporting documentation, you will be ready to complete the verification form for care-experienced and estranged students.
Important to know: Please note: This form is for students currently enrolled at King’s. If you have not enrolled yet to King’s, please visit the pre-entry estranged page.
What information will I need to provide in the form?
In this section you will be asked:
First Name
Surname
Your King's student ID number
Name of your undergraduate course
Name of your faculty
Your age when you started your course at King's
What year of study you are in
How many years of study you have remaining
In this section, you will be asked:
Whether you are a care leaver, care-experienced or estranged.
To provide supporting documentation for your estrangement status, or for an explanation of why you are not able to provide this.
Whether you have applied for student funding, and to upload your notification of entitlement award letter from Student Finance for the current academic year.
You will be asked to provide your Student Finance Notification of Entitlement award letter. This information is usually sent to you in the post. If you no longer have a copy of the document, you can access a copy of this letter on your online Student Finance account under the tab letter and emails. To see an example letter confirming estrangement status see our Student Finance England letter of entitlement (pdf). In this section, you will be asked:
If you agree to a data sharing agreement.
It is important that you read this in detail to ensure you understand how data will be shared across the university. If you do not agree, we will be unable to verify your status as care-experienced or a care leaver. Find out more on our priority groups data collection statement webpage.
The final section of the form contains details on your next steps. In this section, you are provided with links which outline the support you are entitled to if verified as an estranged student.
Please read this page thoroughly so you understand how King's can support you through your studies.
When will I know the outcome of the verification process?
Once you have submitted the verification form, we will contact you via your King’s email address to inform you of the outcome of the verification process within 15 working days.
