Schools can be places of safety for refugee and asylum-seeking children, providing a place of growth, flourishing and integration. Education is a springboard to future success and improved life prospects. However, research has demonstrated that a range of tangible barriers prevent learners from a forced migration background from thriving in education, often resulting in compounded disruptions to learning and progression.

The recommendations presented in this paper are not an exhaustive list of all beneficial policy changes but rather a call to promote welcome and inclusion for refugee and asylum-seeking children. Policy decisions are often made in silos to the detriment of refugee and asylum-seeking children’s education. We call on policymakers to work collaboratively across departments to consider policy consequences that impact their education. We recognise and celebrate positive steps already made to support the inclusion of other disadvantaged pupils including children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) and looked after children (LAC). In an era of continued global migration, we urge policymakers to extend this inclusion to refugee and asylum-seeking children and move beyond a crisis-based response towards a more sustainable and inclusive strategy.