A young adult carer from the University of Nottingham has had his contributions to the carers' community recognised by King Charles, after being invited to attend the King's Carer's Reception at Windsor Castle.
Danny Donnelly, a Young Adult Carer and Dean's Health Sciences Intern at the university, where he is Project Lead and Co-Chair of the Student Carer Working Group, attended the King's Carers Reception at Windsor Castle on 11 February. During the event Danny spoke with King Charles about how around one in 10 young people are carers, yet 72% of schools report having none identified in their cohorts, prompting a thoughtful discussion about the hidden nature of caring and why early recognition matters.
The invitation recognised his lived experience as a carer, alongside his advocacy and contribution to wider conversations about unpaid carers across education, health, and community contexts.
Danny was Co-Chair of the most recent All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) inquiry into Removing Barriers to Higher Education, Employment and Training for young carers and young adult carers, which brought together evidence from young carers, researchers, charities and public bodies across the UK.
The inquiry highlighted the significant educational impact of caring responsibilities. Evidence showed that young carers miss, on average, around 23-27 days of school per year, contributing to lower attainment outcomes, with fewer than half leaving school with five GCSE passes. Longer-term impacts were also clear, with around half of young carers reporting that caring had limited their access to education, training, or employment opportunities.
Further evidence demonstrated a clear link between caring intensity and higher education outcomes. Those providing as little as four hours of care per week were found to be 47% less likely to obtain a degree, rising to up to 86% less likely for those providing 35 hours or more per week.
This invitation reflects the growing recognition of unpaid carers and the reality that supporting carers is everyone's business. Caring touches every part of society - around three in five adults will care at some point in their lives, and around one in ten young people are carers. We also know that early recognition and preventative support can make a significant difference - not only to carers' wellbeing, but to their ability to stay engaged in education, work, and community life, and to maintain their independence.
"At the University of Nottingham, we're in the early stages of work to better recognise and support students with caring responsibilities, working closely with students and external partners to build strong foundations and help shape what future support could look like. It's an area of work I'm really excited and honoured to be part of."
The University of Nottingham has established a Student Carer Working Group, focused on unpaid student carers across undergraduate and postgraduate study.
The Group is co-chaired with the Director of Student Experience and is currently in an early, foundation-building phase. Its focus is on improving visibility of student carers, learning from student experience, and strengthening signposting and partnership working, to help inform and shape future approaches to support.
As part of this initial phase, the University has recently contacted 184 students who entered the University this academic year and disclosed caring responsibilities via UCAS, signposting them to existing internal and external support and inviting optional feedback to help inform future work, including participation in focus groups.
Sally Olohan, MBE, Director of Student Experience, said: "The university is determined to improve access and support for all students who may be balancing their studies alongside caring responsibilities. We are delighted that Danny's work with young adult carers is being recognised at the highest level. Through Danny's insights and his work during his internship year, we hope to raise awareness of resources and assistance that will help our student carers at the University of Nottingham to succeed."
