Several were deemed too old to be easily integrated into mainstream schooling and too young for higher education.
According to a report, several teenage asylum seekers are said to be spending up to a year out of school in a “no man’s land” because schools are hesitant to accept them if they come after the start of the school year.
In a study conducted by the charity Refugee Education UK (REUK) and supported by the Bell Foundation, an education charity, teen asylum seekers are perceived as too old to be easily integrated into mainstream schooling and too young for further education, leaving many trapped in a limbo that exposes them to isolation, mental health deterioration, and exploitation.
The report disclosed that all teens are affected. Those who struggle the most are those aged 15 to 17 who are about to attend year 11 while their colleagues prepare for GCSEs.
Related Posts
A charity staff told the researchers that “[young] people – particularly unaccompanied young people – are particularly vulnerable to victimisation, trafficking and exploitation” as a result.
REUK’s chief executive, Catherine Gladwell, claims that education can have a “transformative impact” and provides “the key to integration, wellbeing, and a meaningful future, and ultimately, enabling them to make a positive economic and social contribution to the UK”.
However, she added, “For many young refugees, this right remains far from the reality.”
She stated that in 2023, local authorities supported 7,290 unaccompanied refugee and asylum-seeking children, several of them were between the ages of 14 and 17, meaning that thousands of children are likely to be trapped in an educational limbo.
REUK is calling for the Westminster government to integrate refugees and asylum seekers into its new children’s wellbeing bill to address school absences. The bill should also include a plan for accelerating the integration of these students, such as providing extra funding to schools that accept in-year arrivals and monitoring their educational opportunities.
The study combined views from over 400 individuals supporting refugees and asylum seekers. Although the underlying research included replies from various parts of the UK, the majority of responses were from the south of England. As a result, the recommendations made by REUK are specific to England.
80% of 112 survey respondents believe it is difficult for youngsters to get a secondary school admission after the 11-year-old’s winter break. 13-year-old Angel Nakhle from Lebanon is a victim of this circumstance. She arrived in the United Kingdom in November 2015, and her family settled in Dudley in the Midlands after a couple of weeks. Her younger siblings were admitted to a primary school immediately. However, she wasn’t able to find a place until January.
She stated: “My English was not that great at the time. It wasn’t really fluent, I didn’t understand it that well. When you’re a child and you’re used to the lifestyle of going to school every day then you move to a different country, it’s so hard to adapt to the culture. I was in the hotel isolated from people for a while. It was really hard. If I’d got into school a little earlier I would have adjusted a bit better into the environment.”
According to the report, refugees and asylum seekers over 16 can disclose that their “options narrow and are often limited to Esol or vocational courses that do not always advance their education or career aspirations.”
REUK’s study disclosed several educational barriers, specifically a lack of school places and uncertainty over accommodation, including unplaced relocation across the country at short notice. The report stated, “current dispersal policy, and the constant uncertainty and instability it generates, causes significant disruptions to late arrivals’ education,” recommending that the Home Office consider access to education in dispersal decisions and provide more advance notice where it is unavoidable.
The study also disclosed fear among schools of placing in-year arrivals or the possible negative impact on the performance tables from taking children who are new to the education system in the United Kingdom, including the English language report.
The director of the Bell Foundation, Diana Sutton, stated that schools felt “unprepared and unsupported” because of funding cuts and an “English as an additional language policy vacuum.”
The study also revealed that programmes focused on supporting children of refugee children in their integration, including life skills, language and numeracy.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education stated: “Tackling the national epidemic of school absence is a top priority for this government because we know how important school attendance is to spread opportunity across the country truly.
“Where children aren’t in school, local authorities already have a duty to locate and support children back into education where necessary. Our children’s wellbeing bill will go further, requiring councils to have and maintain registers of children not in school, ensuring fewer young people slip under the radar.”
