How to #BeAGuarantor
‘A guarantor is someone who agrees to pay your rent if you don’t pay it, for example a parent or close relative.’*
Most students require a rent guarantor to secure accommodation at university, but for the 16,000 university students who have been in care or are estranged from their families, asking a parent or relative isn’t an option.
Universities, you can #BeAGuarantor for your students without family support.
We’re leading a national working group to help universities implement their own, free guarantor service for estranged and care experienced students; sharing best practice from universities already running schemes and working through collective challenges to put what’s needed in place.
Not having a rent guarantor to be able to secure a home at university can mean the difference between completing a degree, having to drop out, or even being able to go to university in the first place.
The risk is low and the reward is high – everyone wins when all students are able to stay at university and complete their degree.
Join us.
What can you do to make a difference?
Universities.
Set up a guarantor scheme at your university.
If you would like to join our working group, we’d love to hear from you, get in touch to find out when we’re next meeting. In the meantime if you’d like to receive the Unite Foundation’s guidance pack that includes examples of successful schemes at other universities, email us and we’ll send it over.
Make sure your university has clear information on its website about what a guarantor is and who needs one.
Only 36% of universities mention it, 100% of you need to. You can copy and paste this information to your central accommodation page and to any page signposting estranged and care experienced students to support.
When you’ve added this information to your website, tweet the link to the page with the hashtag #BeAGuarantor, we’ll share!
Students.
Already talking to your university about setting up a scheme? Let us know if there’s anything the Unite Foundation can do to help with those conversations. Email us: info@unitefoundation.org.uk
Everyone.
Copy and paste this tweet. We’ll change this up as things develop so check back for new messages to share!
“Only 36% of university websites mention guarantors, 100% need to. Universities, please copy + paste this information to your accommodation pages now: bit.ly/guarantorwebsitecopy #BeAGuarantor”
THANK YOU for working with us to improve the journey to and through university for ALL estranged and care experienced students.