Introduction

Brighter Futures is made up of three groups of young asylum-seekers and refugees in Teeside, Manchester and London.  The young people in Brighter Futures come from different backgrounds and are aged 15 to 21.  Brighter Futures is a self advocacy group, trying to get their voices heard and to improve the lives of others in a similar situation in England.The Brighter Futures project in Manchester currently focuses on the right to access Higher and Further Education for young asylum-seekers, calling on universities to charge asylum-seeking students home fees and on further education colleges to implement education policy consistently and to provide appropriate support to asylum-seeking students.

BRIGHTER FUTURES CAMPAIGN CALL: HIGHER EDUCATION

Brighter Futures believes that all young asylum seekers who are offered a place at a UK university should be treated as home students

Asylum seekers in England are currently charged international student fees.  However, unlike international students, they are not allowed to work.  This effectively prevents them from accessing higher education (HE). This is in direct contradiction of the UK Government’s ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Discrimination in Education, in which states commit to “give foreign nationals resident within their territory the same access to education as that given to their own nationals”[i].  Several hundred thousand asylum seekers who arrived in the UK before March 2007 have been told that it may take the Home Office until 2011 to determine their case[ii], leaving many young people in limbo, unable to continue with their lives.

• We want to develop our skills and talents – without this opportunity we feel we have no future.
• We think that allowing people to participate in HE is good for local communities.  The government agrees, noting that there is “a strong positive correlation between the cohesiveness of local communities and participation in higher education”[iii].
• We believe that giving young asylum seekers access to HE will have a long-term return for the British economy through those of us who go on to receive refugee status[iv].
• We believe that allowing young asylum seekers to access HE will also help the government in its commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which it says relies on “creating a pool of qualified people with the knowledge and skills to contribute significantly to economic development, to be entrepreneurial, develop science and technology, deliver basic services, and to be enlightened leaders”[v].  Failed asylum seekers with a university education will be in a better position to do this on return to their countries of origin.
• Education is key to tackling poverty. It is vital that asylum seekers avoid the ‘poverty trap’.

Situation analysis

According to UK government policy, those asylum seekers who do not have the right to access HE as a home student are:

• Young asylum seekers who are still awaiting an initial decision on their claim for asylum.
• A young asylum seeker who has failed in their claim for asylum, but who cannot be removed.
• Those who started a HE course whilst holding a form of temporary leave to remain that entitled them to access (see detail on Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary Leave[vi] and applications for extensions below) but who receive a final negative decision part-way through their course.  These students will not be able to progress onto the next year of their course

Those asylum seekers who do have the right to access HE as a home student are:

• Those who have been granted refugee status and therefore have the same rights to HE as a UK citizen.
• Those who have been granted Humanitarian Protection until the date on which their leave to remain expires.
• Those who have been granted Discretionary Leave to Remain (DLR), until the date on which their leave to remain expires.
• Those who have applied for an extension to their Discretionary Leave to Remain, until the date on which the Home Office make a final decision about whether to extend the leave or not.

Unfortunately, in practice, many universities still fail to accept these young asylum seekers, partly due to a fear of finding themselves with students who are unable to complete their course of study, as detailed above.  Those who are accepted with temporary forms of status can only access student support if they have been resident in the UK for three years.

Recent positive developments:

Since 2007, asylum seekers who have been in Scottish schools for three years have been eligible to attend Scottish universities as home students.  In the UK, some individual universities, such as London Metropolitan and Middlesex have long admitted asylum seekers as home students.  Thanks to the work of the Brighter Futures Manchester group, Manchester University also chose to amend its policies and has allowed asylum seekers to study as home students since September 2008.  Manchester Brighter Futures has also successfully lobbied other institutions, such as Liverpool Hope, the University of Liverpool, Manchester Metropolitan University and Edgehill University to develop bursary schemes at their own expense, allowing a number of asylum seekers to study as home students each year.

Key recommendations:

Brighter Futures calls for more universities to follow the lead of those cited above by offering bursaries through remittance of international tuition fees

Brighter Futures calls for Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funding for asylum seekers as home students to be available to universities

Brighter Futures calls for correct and consistent implementation of policy on asylum seekers with DLR who are eligible for home fees

Brighter Futures calls for the UK government to ensure that asylum seekers who access university with temporary forms of leave, but receive negative decisions part way through their course, are able to complete their studies

BRIGHTER FUTURES CAMPAIGN CALL: FURTHER EDUCATION

Asylum seeking young people aged 18 and under may apply to study in FE colleges as home students as soon as they arrive in the UK.  However, asylum seekers aged 19 and over are required to wait six months before being eligible for a home student place.  Once in college, access to information, support and financial assistance available to these students is often problematic and unpredictable.

Why do the young people of Brighter Futures want better access to FE for asylum seekers?

• Going to college helps us to integrate into the local community and contribute more.
• Learning how to read and write in English will improve our future
• Qualifications gained at college will help us to access further work, education or training.
• Actively pursuing our education and working hard helps us to counter the bad image of asylum seekers.
• When we go to college, we can focus on something positive rather than thinking about our problems.
• We want access without a six month wait for asylum seeking young people aged 19 and above because the first six months in a strange country are often the most difficult and vulnerable; not being able to study exacerbates this.

Situation analysis

Current financial issues facing young asylum seekers in FE have been identified as follows:

• Eligibility for Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA).  Although young people with refugee status can apply for EMA, neither young asylum seekers awaiting an initial decision nor those with temporary forms of status (e.g. Discretionary Leave) are eligible.
• Asylum seeker students aged 19 or above are not eligible for Learner Support Funds.
• Asylum seeker students aged 19 or above who are not in receipt of benefits are not entitled to fee remission when studying on a course funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).  Many colleges do not acknowledge asylum support as a benefit.
• Young people aged over 19 are normally eligible for Adult Learning Grants.  Asylum seekers, those with Discretionary Leave and those who have been in the UK for less than three years at the start of their course are not eligible for this support.
• Asylum seekers aged over 18 who are not care-leavers are not eligible for Care to Learn child care assistance. 

Information and support issues facing young asylum seekers have been identified as follows:

• Inconsistent application of policies by FE institutions.
• Lack of appropriate information provided in different languages.
• Lack of awareness of refugee and asylum seekers’ issues by admissions staff.
• Young asylum-seekers being placed on part-time rather than full-time courses.
• Young asylum-seekers who arrive in the UK mid-way through the academic having to wait until the following September to get a place in college.

Key recommendations:

Brighter Futures calls for all young asylum seekers, including those aged 19 and above, to be able to access FE without having to wait for six months

Brighter Futures calls for EMA to be available to all young asylum seekers, including those on Section 4 support[vii], and to young people with Discretionary Leave to Remain.

Brighter Futures calls for all FE colleges to commit to providing, simple, clear, consistent and accurate information to asylum seeking students, through working in partnership with specialist advisors