ambition, resilience, untapped potential… let down
By Luwam, Obaida and Shahab, Youth Ambassadors
“It’s more than a shame we don’t get education - it’s a loss to us all.”
This is how one young person described the reality facing many refugees and asylum-seeking youth trying to access education in the UK today. For them, education is not just a classroom or a qualification. It is where their lives begin again, where healing happens and where hope for a new future takes root.
But getting back into education after leaving is far from straightforward. Over the past few months, we have been leading a campaign to uncover and highlight the real experiences of young refugees and asylum seekers in Kent's education system. We've met with students and with professionals who support the young refugees and asylum seekers and who have surveyed young people directly.
What we heard was clear: refugee students have ambition, resilience and untapped potential, but they are being let down by a system that is supposed to support them.
“The ESOL system is too slow — students just give up.”
For young people over 16, the first step into education usually begins with English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses. These are meant to help them learn English before moving onto functional-skills or vocational training. But the system isn’t working.
“It takes years to finish ESOL. By the time they are ready for the next step, they’ve aged out and can’t access the next level without funding.”
Support professionals all told us the same story: ESOL is a bottleneck. The courses are too limited, too slow and don’t connect well to next steps. Students drop out, not because they lack talent or motivation, but because they feel stuck. There’s no pathway forward.
A Refugee Education UK report has found that lengthy ESOL courses often delay progression to vocational or academic study and contribute to high dropout rates among refugee youth (Refugee Education UK, 2025).
On top of this, travel costs, age restrictions and unclear information about available courses make it worse. If a student is 18 or over, they may no longer qualify for certain funding or full-time education programmes And even if they’re just finishing an ESOL course many are suddenly relocated by the Home Office or local councils, sometimes to another part of Kent, sometimes to another county. These moves come with little warning and little choice.
“We move, and it all falls apart again.”
These relocations directly contradict the National Transfer Scheme protocol (NTS), which asks local authorities to consider education continuity when transferring unaccompanied minors (UK Home Office, 2023). And while statutory guidance promotes the education of looked-after children, in practice many refugee young people are ending up as Children Missing Education (Refugee Education UK, 2025).
“The biggest challenge is moving accommodation. It breaks their connection with the course, the staff, the community - everything.”
One professional highlighted how relocation leads to gaps in communication between colleges and social workers, and leaves students with long travel times, disrupted enrolment, or no access at all to education in the new location.
They’re three years behind. And it’s not their fault.
According to Refugee Education UK, by the time refugee children reach GCSE level, they are on average, three years behind their non-migrant peers (Refugee Education UK, 2025).
This isn’t due to lack of intelligence or effort. It's the result of multiple overlapping barriers:
• interrupted education before arriving in the UK
• trauma, anxiety, depression and/PTSD due to separation and isolation
• overburdened or inaccessible mental health support services (Refugee Council, 2025)
• lengthy delays in school or college placement
• language barriers and lack of familiarity with UK education.
• limited funding or clarity around entitlements.
“We want to change the system — and we have the power to do it.”
As KRAN Youth Ambassadors, we don’t just want to highlight problems - we’re working with young people to find solutions.
When we met with students from one local college, they spoke about the importance of being heard. They asked for clear guidance before they enrol so that they don’t go in blind to a new system with unfamiliar expectations. One of our initiatives proposes pre-college orientation sessions, offering students:
• a breakdown of course pathways
• a map of support services available
• an explanation of academic expectations and how to progress.
We also committed to providing 1:1 support for students who are struggling with motivation, attendance, or integration. These sessions aim to identify individual barriers and offer a tailored plan of action - from practical help, to mental health referrals, to study strategies.
What needs to change
We are calling for a national strategy for refugee education that includes:
• faster school/college placement upon arrival
• integrated ESOL models that lead directly into mainstream education or employment
• age-flexible course access so that young people don’t “age out” of their learning
• tracked support during relocations, to prevent dropout
• increased investment in mental health support, especially trauma-informed care.
• treating refugee students as home students for funding and admissions purposes
• more training and funding for colleges and schools to support this work.
Final thoughts: a loss to us all
If we continue to let refugee students fall through the cracks, we lose not just their potential, but part of our shared future.
These are young people who have crossed continents, navigated trauma and fought for survival. They don’t need pity: they need opportunity. And when we fail to provide it, we fail everyone.
Here’s how you can take action
• listen to our voices: share this blog, uplift refugee youth voices and challenge the myths around migration and education
• call on decision-makers: demand policies that remove barriers like limited access to student finance, unstable housing, or immigration restrictions
• support grassroots efforts: get involved with or donate to youth-led and refugee-led organisations fighting for education equality
• educate yourself and others: start conversations in your schools, communities, and workplaces about the systemic challenges refugee and asylum-seeking youth face.
We are not just the leaders of tomorrow - we are leading change today. We can’t do it alone - but with you, we can make a difference.