Armed Forces families

We provide support for family members of currently serving UK military personnel.

The Service Children's Progression Alliance (SCiP Alliance)

The SCiP Alliance, hosted by the University of Winchester, is a partnership of institutions and organisations who are focused on improving educational outcomes for children from military families. The SCiP Alliance is supported by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). There is a UK-wide Hub Network, which brings together practitioners and policy makers to collaborate on research and activities to enhance Service children’s experiences.

The Yorkshire and North East Hub is lead by the York and North Yorkshire Uni Connect partnership, Inspiring Choices, and is supported by universities across the region, including York St John University. Find out more about the Hubs and how they can support you and your child here: SCiP Alliance Hub Network.

The Yorkshire and North East Hub can be contacted via email: scip@yorksj.ac.uk.

Supporting your child as they apply to University

Children whose parent(s) or carer(s) is serving or has served in the UK Armed Forces may have a slightly different experience applying to university than those from a non-service background, and will have unique experiences and skills. Universities will want to hear about their experiences. As of 2023 applications, the UCAS application system now includes questions to identify students from UK Armed Forces families and Veterans and Service leavers.

The SCiP Alliance have created multiple resources around scholarships, additional support, and application guidance which can be found on their website.

SCiP Alliance resources

Inspiring Choices have also created a series of guides for students, parents/carers, and teachers who are supporting young people from Service backgrounds and their UCAS applications.

Inspiring Choices

You can also find out about further support on the UCAS website.

Creative Forces Days

Using resources developed by the SCiP Alliance, Inspiring Choices runs 'Creative Forces Days' for local military service children from both primary and secondary schools.

The activity involves a visit to either the University of York or York St John University to familiarise students with a higher education environment, the opportunity to talk about their experience of being a Military service child within their community and meet current higher education students from a Service family background.

For more information about Creative Forces Days, and to find out if they are run in your area, please contact scip@yorksj.ac.uk.

Jobs for family members

We understand the unique challenges that come with being a family member of a serving person.

York St John University is a forces family friendly employer. We hold an Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award from the Armed Forces Covenant.

We advertise all job vacancies on the Forces Families Jobs website. On this website you can apply for jobs and training opportunities at companies who are forces family friendly.

Forces Families Jobs