Commenting on a new report out today (Thurs 2 Dec) from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) on the educational outcomes of refugee and asylum-seeking children, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“This is an important piece of research that shines a spotlight on a group of pupils that are often overlooked in official government data.

“Given the life experiences and the trauma many of these young people will have faced in their formative years, it is perhaps not surprising that this has an impact on their educational outcomes. However, this is not a gap that anyone should be prepared to accept. Without doubt, these are some of the most vulnerable young people in our schools and we need a system that fully supports them.

“Schools know how to support vulnerable children, young people and their families, but for this particular group of pupils, they urgently need access to quality data, sufficient resource and a co-ordinated multiagency approach to make it happen.”