Research for a potential judicial review challenging Home Office's policy on housing asylum seekers where education duties may be unmet
A recently published report by Together with Migrant Children and the Public Law Project, 'Experiences of accessing education in asylum accommodation', highlights the challenges faced by asylum-seeking children in accessing school places across the UK.
You can download the 21-page report here.
The report was funded by the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (ILPA) through its Strategic Legal Fund and was published as part of pre-litigation research for a potential judicial review challenging the Home Office's policy on accommodating asylum-seeking families. The challenge would argue that placing families in areas where local authorities cannot fulfil their duty to provide education may violate sections 14 and 19 of the Education Act 1996.
Based on survey responses from 49 organisations working with asylum-seeking families, the report finds that children living in asylum support accommodation frequently experience significant delays in securing school placements.
76% of organisations surveyed reported issues with children in asylum accommodation starting school. Among organisations able to provide specific data, all had encountered delays of more than four weeks, with some smaller organisations reporting that 100% of the children they supported faced such delays.
In areas with high concentrations of asylum accommodation, delays can extend beyond eight weeks, particularly in cases where interim housing, such as hotels, is used. In some cases, children waited over a year to access education.
One organisation said: "Year after year we are shocked by how many children are not in school at the start of the school year. ... It is incredibly frustrating, demoralising and completely devastating for parents as well as highly stressful for the children. The children find it so much harder to settle and it singles them out when they do eventually start, leading to some experiencing bullying and difficulties with integration."
A key concern raised in the report is that the Home Office's policy for allocating asylum accommodation does not account for local school place availability. Instead, families are often placed in areas where there is already a shortage of school places, exacerbating the problem. These areas are also more likely to be economically deprived, where affordable accommodation is easier to source.
A lack of alternative educational provisions was also highlighted. More than half of the surveyed organisations stated that none of the children they worked with were offered alternative education while awaiting school placement. In instances where alternative education was provided, it was primarily for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), though some secondary school-aged children were placed in alternative settings rather than traditional schools.
Financial and logistical barriers further complicate school access. Issues such as the high cost of transport, rigid uniform requirements, and delays in receiving free school meals were identified as common challenges. Some children were assigned school places far from their accommodation, requiring them to take multiple buses without immediate access to free transport passes. Additionally, families often struggled with the school application process due to language barriers and a lack of digital literacy.
Frequent relocations pose another significant challenge. Families are often moved between accommodations with little notice, forcing children to change schools multiple times within short periods. This instability negatively affects their ability to settle into education and integrate with peers. For children in Years 10 and 11, securing school places was particularly difficult, with many left in limbo or placed in colleges that were not appropriate for their needs.