Refugee Week - Education Pathways

Join this online event to find out more about three higher education pathway initiatives for forced migrants.

Worldwide only 6% of refugees have access to Higher Education compared to 40% of non-refugees. Improving access for this group is a priority area of the UN Global Compact on Refugees, including a commitment to reaching 15% by 2030. This panel discusses safe and legal higher education pathways as a way of developing a safe route and access to HE for forcibly displaced students and academics. For universities to create the conditions that will allow refugees to access quality HE, as laid out by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG4), they need to build partnerships and collaborative approaches that look at creating education pathways that will enhance forced migrants’ access to educational opportunities.

This event focuses on three higher education pathway initiatives. In this event, we will be joined by the Dr Leonie Ansems de Vries who will discuss the University Sponsorship Model developed by King’s College London in collaboration with the Open University, Newcastle University and the University of Leicester. This project offers a safe route to the UK for displaced Ukrainian students and academics as well as a scholarship and fellowship programme and holistic support after arrival in the UK. The broader aim of this work is to establish safe and legal higher education pathways for displaced students and academics worldwide. We will also be joined by the CEO of Refugee Education UK (REUK), Catherine Gladwell, will be sharing some reflections from REUK’s work with a group of third sector organisations and HEIs in the UK piloting education pathways. Finally, we will hear testimonials from two students who are part of the first cohort of students on the Open Futures Sanctuary programme at the Open University: Mr Nirosh Nonis and Mrs June Bodnar will reflect on their own educational pathways and the impact these had on their lives in the UK. The event aims to highlight the ‘lived experience’ of students who are currently displaced in the UK. It also aims to share and reflect on good practice currently emerging in the sector, especially considering the role that universities and civil societies organisations may offer.

This event is organised as a collaboration between The Open University UK and King's College London.