In March 2023, the Education Policy Institute held a webinar investigating the impact of the Nationality and Borders Act on the educational outcomes of refugee and migrant pupils. This webinar was kindly supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Signed into law in April 2022, the Nationality and Borders Act has caused much controversy and debate, with major concerns that the legislation departs from international law and, through the creation of a two-tier system for refugees, will penalise those who enter the UK through unofficial routes and increase precarity through the new temporary protections. Children make up almost 25% of those seeking asylum in the UK and no matter their status, all have the right to access suitable, full-time education. Yet, according to last recorded data, not one region of the UK had met the 20 school-day target for accessing education. Delays of over three months were experienced by up to a quarter of children at secondary and further education levels.
With the onset of the Nationality and Borders Act, there is concern that the most vulnerable children will struggle to access the support they need, particularly those who have experienced trafficking, are undergoing lengthy age assessments or are part of ‘second-tier’ families with little recourse to financial support. Moreover, the Act extends the time period after which migrants can apply for indefinite leave to remain to 10 years, giving rise to fears that more children will be born into long-term poverty; will leave school without the option to access work or higher education or will be taken into care.
The webinar opened with keynote remarks from Catherine Gladwell, CEO of Refugee Education UK, followed by an expert panel discussion and open Q&A exploring the impact of the Nationality and Borders Act on the educational outcomes of refugee and migrant pupils.
The webinar follows a private roundtable exploring the impact of the Nationality and Borders Act on the outcomes of refugee and migrant pupils and the wider education system, seeking to understand the nature and scale of the impact and its potentially adverse effects. The event series will culminate in a summary paper to be published in April 2023.
The EPI working paper ‘The educational outcomes of refugee and asylum-seeking children in England’ published in December 2021 has also been attached for context. The report examines the educational outcomes of the majority of asylum-seeking and refugee pupils in England, estimates their school attainment and considers absence and exclusion rates.
