Forced migration is one of the most important issues of our time. By the end of 2017, 68.5 million people were estimated to be forcibly displaced across the world due to factors such as persecution, human rights violations, environmental degradation, and conflict (UNHCR 2017). A small percentage of displaced people come to the United Kingdom, and some have been resettled in areas which have not experienced much inward migration in the recent past such as the rural North and West of Wales and the urbanized Valleys of South Wales. Local authorities across Wales are working to support new arrivals to integrate and to access English classes, employment, and training. The European Social Fund prioritises research that takes place in the convergence areas of Wales – areas of relatively low population density and gross domestic product. This study focuses on the access to education and employment of those who have been resettled through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons’ Resettlement Scheme in areas of convergence. It presents original data drawn from qualitative and quantitative research across five case study areas and situates the data within contemporary discourses on migration and integration. In doing so, the project highlights the successes and challenges of resettling refugees in some of the UK’s most deprived localities.