King's is committed to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive at university and beyond. At King's, we understand that your needs as a mature student may differ from those of students entering higher education having recently finished school or college.
We've been listening to mature learners' experiences and working in partnership with students and staff to help improve mature students' experience of returning to education, and the support available to them throughout their course.
We understand that mature students will have had very different journeys, and reasons for returning to education. We also recognise that not all mature students will have had the same educational background, but we hope this article gives you an insight to the opportunities and support available to you as a mature student.
Important to know: King’s defines a mature student as any person beginning their first undergraduate degree at the age of 21 or over.
Opportunities to engage and build your community
From Welcome Week socials through to Careers & Employability resources, there is a wide range of tailored events, opportunities and support available for mature students. You can visit the Mature Students at King's KEATS page for up-to-date information about upcoming events like study skills workshops, wellbeing sessions and socials.
KCL Mature Student Society
KCL Mature Student Society is a place for anyone interested in the mature student experience. The society's key aims are to ensure that all mature students can receive the support and guidance they need to positively engage with their time at King's, as well as to enable them to meet the wider community of mature students.
Time Out Hubs
Time Out Hubs are student-only spaces supported by both KCLSU and King's. Time Out Hubs are spaces for students to take a break from their studies, connect with others, and try calming new activities (eg. games and crafts). Hubs happen on each campus every week during term time and are free for all students to attend. The friendly team of student Wellbeing Facilitators are there to welcome any student who wants to come along.
Academic support
Personal Tutor
Every undergraduate and on-campus postgraduate taught student is assigned a Personal Tutor. Your Personal Tutor's primary role is to provide support for your academic progress and wellbeing during your time at King's, and to be your primary point of contact within your faculty. You should expect to hear from them within your first few weeks of starting at King's.
Personal Tutor meetings provide an opportunity to:
- Discuss your academic progress
- Find out about specialist support services, where appropriate
- Talk about future planning and extra/co-curricular activities
If you're returning to education, your Personal Tutor can offer a valuable space to talk about your experience and connect you with any support and opportunities available. You can find out more about Personal Tutors in our article Who is my Personal Tutor & what do they do?
King's Academic Skills for Learning
King’s Academic Skills for Learning offers self-study resources, workshops and one-to-one tutorials covering a wide range of study skills to help facilitate success in your studies, including academic writing, criticality, academic integrity, communication and presentation skills and AI.
Libraries and Collections
Libraries and Collections provide an extensive selection of books and journals (many of which are available online), as well as providing learning activities, advice and support on how to make best use of their resources and building your research skills.
Essential Digital Skills Programme
The Essential Digital Skills Programme is designed to teach you the essential digital skills you need to support your academic, professional and personal development. This includes using online learning platforms (KEATS), digital tools and resources to support success in your studies, being a good digital citizen, and wellbeing in the digital world. The course is open to all students and is fully online. This course may be particularly useful if you are returning to education or using digital learning platforms for the first time.
Financial support
Hardship funds
King's provides a range of hardship and financial support funds for students who many need additional financial assistance. Eligibility and assessment criteria vary depending on the fund and individual circumstances. Mature students may be eligible for support where the relevant criteria are met. For more information, please visit our Student Funding pages.
Undergraduate fees and funding
For information about undergraduate fees and funding, including tuition fee costs, student loans, grants, bursaries and scholarships, please visit our Student Funding pages.
Support for student parents
Starting at university is a time of change no matter what your circumstances. This is particularly true of students who are also parents. Alongside their studies, student parents may be managing childcare, caring responsibilities, employment, household finance and their own wellbeing, often requiring careful balancing and competing demands.
Our childcare advice guide and student parent and carer funding advice guide contain a range of useful advice and information. You can also find a helpful summary below.
Childcare
Unfortunately, there is no on-site provision for the children of staff or students at King's. As a multi-site university, students typically access childcare provision within their local community or close to where they live.
Looking for a place to start? You can find the relevant search links for each stage of development on this gov.uk website.
If you have childcare responsibilities, it is important to consider childcare arrangements and costs when planning your studies. Depending on your circumstances, some home undergraduate students may be eligible for support with childcare costs through government student funding schemes and can apply dedicated undergraduate hardship funds to top up this provision.
If you are a postgraduate or international student, you should ensure you have made appropriate provision for childcare costs, as dedicated childcare funding is generally not available. If you experience an unexpected change in circumstances that affects your ability to meet childcare costs, you may be eligible to apply for hardship funding or other forms of financial support. However, these funds are discretionary and are not intended to provide ongoing funding for planned childcare costs.
For advice on childcare costs, budgeting and the support that may be available to you, the Money & Housing Advice Service can talk you through your options.
Financial support for student parents
Undergraduate full-time home students who are parents can apply for additional funding to assist with the added costs of being a parent and/or supporting an adult dependant whilst studying full-time. Below you will find some examples.
Childcare Grant
If you are a full-time student in a low income household and have a dependent child or children in registered or approved childcare, you can apply for a government Childcare Grant to receive up to 85 per cent of your actual childcare costs, which adjusts annually. To qualify, your partner must not already be receiving the childcare element of Working Tax credit.
The amount you receive will depend on:
Your level of income and the income of your household
How many children you have in childcare
Your actual childcare costs
Parents Learning Allowance
The Parents Learning Allowance is a non-repayable grant that can help student parents with the additional costs of studying. Support is addressed based on household income and is paid alongside other student finance to eligible undergraduate home students.
Services available
Advice, Wellbeing & Welfare
Advice, Wellbeing & Welfare provides practical advice, guidance and support to help you overcome any challenges that may affect your university experience, wellbeing or academic success. We recognise that many mature students balance studies alongside work, family, caring responsibilities and other commitments. Our specialist teams can help with a wide range of financial, personal and practical issues, and work with you to identify appropriate support and next steps.
Money & Housing Advice Service
The Money & Housing Advice Service provides specialist advice on student funding, budgeting, welfare benefits, debt, and housing matters. Advisors can help you understand your options, access financial support, manage money worries, and navigate housing issues. This include looking for accommodation, understanding your rights as a tenant, and resolving problems with landlords, letting agents or statutory organisations. We can also advise students whose financial circumstances are affected by childcare, caring responsibilities or other household commitments.
Wellbeing
The Student Wellbeing team can provide personalised support to help you manage challenges that may be affecting your studies or day-to-day life. Wellbeing Advisors will work with youto identify concerns, explore possible solutions, develop practical action plans, and connect you with relevant university or external support services. This may be particularly helpful if you are balancing study with family, caring, employment or other significant responsibilities.
Welfare
The Welfare Team supports students experiencing complex personal circumstances that may be creating significant barriers to their safety, wellbeing or ability to engage with their studies. Specialist Welfare Advisors provide practical support, guidance and coordination, helping students navigate university processes and work with internal and external services where additional support may be needed. This can include situations where personal, family or caring responsibilities have become difficult to manage alongside university life.
Counselling & Mental Health Support
Counselling offers a safe, confidential and supportive space to help you explore your problems, while also sharing and gaining insight into your feelings, thoughts and behaviour.
The Counselling & Mental Health Support Service offers free and confidential in-person and online support for students at King's. Find out more in our article How can the Counselling & Mental Health Support Service help me?
Disability Support & Inclusion
Students may have a range of different needs or circumstances that can affect their experience of university. Disability Support & Inclusion (DS&I) provides advice, guidance and support for students with disabilities, which can include long-term health conditions, mental health conditions and Specific Learning Differences (SpLDs).
You can find information about the support available such as King's Inclusion Plans (KIPs), Personalised Assessment Arrangements (PAAs) and other specialist support within our articles on Disability support.
Please contact disability@kcl.ac.uk if you're unsure whether you're eligible for support, or would like to discuss your individual circumstances with the Disability Support & Inclusion team.
Careers & Employability
King's Careers & Employability department provides information, advice and events to help you navigate your way through the range of career options available to you. The Careers & Employability service offers specialist resources for mature students, which you can find on their KEATS page under the section ‘Underrepresented Learners’.
Mature students are also eligible for Careers+, which provides access to extended careers guidance appointments, the Student Opportunity Fund and Careers Mentoring Programme. You can find out more on the Careers+ KEATS page.
KCL Mature Student Society is a place for anyone interested in the mature student experience. The society's key aims are to ensure that all mature students can receive the support and guidance they need to positively engage with their time at King's, as well as to enable them to meet the wider community of mature students.
You can get in touch with the Mature Student Society via their Instagram profile.