Sustainable transformative inclusive refugee education (STRIVE) partnership

Sustainable Transformative Inclusive Refugee Education (STRIVE) is a partnership between Refugee Education UK and the University of Nottingham, that drew upon extensive research of educational policy and provision for refugee learners, and experience of working directly with young people from a forced migration background.

The purpose of this project is to inform structural policy changes at a national level that will improve outcomes for refugee and asylum-seeking children in secondary education in England. Semi-structured focus group discussions were conducted with representatives from a range of stakeholder groups including: young people with lived experience of forced migration; teaching staff; representatives from teaching unions; Virtual School head teachers; CEOs of Multi Academy Trusts; staff from local authorities and third-sector organisations supporting refugees and asylum seekers with education-related outcomes.

Through these focus group discussions, structural barriers were identified along with corresponding recommendations for change. A policy brief was developed, with recommendations to improve the welcome and inclusion of refugee and asylum-seeking pupils in secondary education policy and practice in England.