Hampshire young carer says more support's needed as many carers miss out on school
It's revealed one in 10 young carers have missed a test or exam due to caring
A Hampshire young carer is saying more support is needed in the educational system as many young carers miss out on schoolwork.
The Carers Trust has revealed 44% of young carers spend three to four hours a day on their caring role, with one in 10 missing an exam or test.
Isla is 17 and a young carer for her sibling.
She said: "It's very difficult emotionally to care for someone and to see things which they go through, which are really difficult for them.
"But then also trying to help yourself at the same time, and balancing that feeling of guilt which is quite prominent.
"It's always there in the back of your head like your needs aren't as great, which does make you doubt yourself constantly and I've definitely struggled a lot with confidence."
There are approximately one million young carers in the UK, according to the Carers Trust.
Research shows that, on average, young carers miss one month of school per year, compared to 13 days for a child without a caring responsibility.
Isla's now studying with the Open University on an access course.
Before this, she completed her GCSEs and six weeks of A Level courses.
She said: "It was at the point that my sibling was struggling, so it was quite hard to focus on my work and be in an environment at home which was often stressful.
"I've now just started another course with them to hopefully carry on and hopefully go to a brick university to try and get some of that social experience, which I feel like I'm missing."
She said she feels there's a misconception that carers only do specific tasks such as organise medication or more physical cases, which whilst this can be the case for many, for her it's more emotional support.
Isla attends a youth club which helps her to socialise with other young carers.
She said: "I go to my young carers programme, but I also have one to one mentoring and that kind of was a starting point, which was a structured way for me to integrate into things.
"From there, I have been part of volunteer opportunities and feel lucky to have had that, but I think there needs to be a lot more support like that for young carers.
"We're often not thought about by schools and the impact that our caring role has.
"When I was in school, I think my teachers knew I had a sibling who's disabled, but they didn't necessarily link that to that it might impact me.
"So I definitely think that those kinds of other support outside of school, like youth clubs, are actually really important to help young carers to be successful in their education."
She told us the ways she would like to see support brought into schools for people like herself.
"One thing I've found in terms of school is definitely the socialising aspects and just being around other young people; and having support from people outside of school who can help you to socialise in a structured way, hopefully building up to feel more confident.
"For me, the one to one support has been really, really beneficial.
"It's helped me to feel like I've got someone to speak to outside of the situation at home, who doesn't kind of judge me or doesn't come at it from a perspective of just wanting me to get better grades.
"I think a lot of the time, the focus needs to be on whether the young carer is okay, rather than whether they're just okay enough to be getting to a place that the system wants them to be at, even if that's not necessarily within their best interests."