The Nationality and Borders Act, signed into legislation in April 2022, has created great debate over the UK’s approach to and treatment of those entering the country. Headline criticisms around the Act include concerns around its departure from internationalconvention and possible incompatibility with internationallaw,and the creation of a two–tier system for refugees, which will penalise those who enter the UK through unofficial routes and increase the precariousness of their situations. Given children account for 25% of all those seeking asylum in the UK, the Act islikely to have an impact on many children being educated in the UK. No matter their status, these children have the right to access full time education while in the UK.
While the exact impacts of the Act on children in education are yet to be made clear, it is feared that it will result in children spending even longer periods waiting for their legal status to be resolved and remaining subject to disruptive relocation decisions made by the Home Office. This will exacerbate the difficulties these children encounter when seeking to access education services, such as securing a place in school, college or university, and heighten the challenges they face when they do reach their learning environments. What is clear, however, is that the landscape for refugee and migrant pupils in the UK is changing, and there is an ethical responsibility for all those involved in education to better support this vulnerable group of children to succeed in education and enter the world of work.
Refugee and migrant children are some of the most vulnerable pupils within the country’s education system. For multiple reasons, they encounter significant barriers while in education, often harming their educational outcomes and limiting their future career paths and earnings later in life. While some of these challenges begin abroad, many are unfortunately a product of UK immigration policy and some due to its education policy. More work must be done to integrate and support these pupils effectively.
