Current services

Entitlement to early years services

Young refugee children have the same entitlements to early years education as other children in England and should be able to enjoy access to the range of early education settings and services available. Early years education is delivered through various settings such as:

• Pre-school groups
• Children’s centres
• Accredited childminders who are part of networks approved to deliver early education
• Nursery and reception classes in primary schools
• Nursery schools and private nurseries

Early years entitlements

Third birthday	Free place
1 Sep - 31 Dec	Spring Term (Jan - Mar/Apr)
1 Jan - 31 Mar	Summer Term (Apr - Jul)
1 Apr - 31 Aug	Autumn Term (Sep - Dec)

All children are entitled to get a free, good quality, part-time early education place starting from the school term following their third birthday. Three and four year olds are entitled to 2.5 hours of free education for a maximum of five sessions per week for 33 weeks of the year. Parents cannot be asked to contribute to this minimum entitlement.

Local authorities have a duty to ensure there is adequate provision, although in many areas, there are often not enough early years services. They must also meet statutory duties under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. Local authorities should have appeals procedures in place that parents can use if they are not satisfied that their child has got the free nursery education to which they are entitled. Contact your local authority’s Children’s Information Service about childcare, local providers, support services, activities for children and about the appeal process.

Sure Start Sure Start is a government programme that aims to support children (from pre-birth to 14), families and communities in disadvantaged areas. It aims to: Make childcare more available for all children Improve health and emotional development of young children and Support parents in their role as parents and in their efforts to find work Sure Start tries to achieve these aims by helping develop services in disadvantaged areas and by providing financial help for parents so they can afford childcare. Work includes home visits and other outreach work, which is sometimes done by dedicated refugee support workers. Outreach work is very important. Midwives and health visitors, for example, can help families learn about Sure Start and access relevant services. Sure Start works with children’s centres, neighbourhood nurseries, early excellence centres and extended school services (such as childcare, health and family support) on school premises. For more information, call Sure Start’s Public Enquiry Unit on 0870 000 2288 or visit the Sure Start website.

Early years educational provision is vital for young refugee children. The support, facilities and care provided will help them to feel safe and secure, develop confidence and promote their language and communication skills. Many refugee families speak little or no English at home, and young children need contact with English speakers.

Services depend on the local area but they can include the following:

• Childcare (with the move towards integrated services, education, childcare and a range of other family services are increasingly being delivered alongside each other, and the distinction between early years education and childcare is becoming less significant)
• Sure Start local programmes
• Sure Start children’s centres
• Early excellence centres
• Maintained nursery schools (maintained nursery schools take children from the age of three or four. They are open during school term time and normally offer five half-day sessions a week)
• Nursery classes in maintained primary schools
• Reception classes in maintained primary schools
• Social services nurseries (if children are in particular need, a social worker can recommend attendance)
• Private nursery schools (usually expensive)
• Day nurseries (children under five years old can attend day nurseries part-time or fulltime, depending on their parents’ needs. These may be run by local authorities, voluntary organisations, and private companies or individuals, or by employers)
• Playgroups (pre-school playgroups generally take children between the ages of three and five years old. Most playgroups offer halfday sessions. They are usually non-profit making and managed by volunteers, often including parents. Some refugee community groups organise their own playgroups)
• Parent and toddler clubs

Accessing early years services

It is known that refugee families experience many barriers to accessing early years services for many reasons, including:

• Refugee families may not know what services are available and what they are entitled to
• Maintained nurseries and nursery classes in schools are often heavily over-subscribed, and families in temporary housing are unlikely to reach the top of the waiting list
• Families in temporary housing often move and so are unlikely to get more long-term support from social services
• Most refugee families cannot afford to pay for a private nursery place
• Many parents are anxious about leaving very young children with strangers from outside their community
• Asylum-seeking families usually cannot afford travel costs - sometimes they cannot even pay for short journeys on public transport
• In many cultures, childcare is the responsibility of the extended family or community. Refugee families therefore may not be familiar with a formal childcare service

Refugee children still remain under-represented in early years education, and refugee parents usually do not use facilities such as toy libraries enough. If there is a Sure Start programme in your area, it is worth introducing families to it.

For further information on early years education and childcare services, see Education to 16 in the Resources section.

Please note: Waiting lists Occasionally parents are told that their child is on a waiting list for a school. It is important to note that this does not guarantee a school place. If parents are informed that their child is on a school’s waiting list, they should keep looking elsewhere.

Schools

Refugee children (unless resident in an accommodation centre) should have the same opportunities as all other children to access education. Local authorities have a legal duty to ensure that education is available for all children of compulsory school age in their area, appropriate to age, ability and aptitudes and any Special Educational Needs (SEN) they may have. This duty applies irrespective of a child’s immigration status or rights of residence in a particular area.

Parents also have a duty to ensure their children get an education. This does not have to be at school, but part-time temporary classes or projects are unlikely to fulfil the statutory requirements, no matter who provides them. There is no guidance on the timeframe within which local authorities have to find a school place for a child. However, they are expected to find unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in public care a full-time education placement in a local mainstream school within 20 school days.

Click on this link to see Guidance on the Education of Children and Young People in Public Care.

Parents may prefer their children to attend a specific school. Admissions are handled either by the local education authority or by the school itself. From September 2006, all local authorities providing education services are required to provide an online service for schools admissions. Local authorities should be able to provide closing dates for online school applications. These may vary from the paper forms.

Age of child	School year
5-6	year one
6-7	year two
7-8	year three
8-9	year four
9-10	year five
10-11	year six
11-12	year seven
12-13	year eight
13-14	year nine
14-15	year ten
15-16	year eleven
16-17	year twelve
18+	year thirteen

A school’s admission authority is the body that deals with a child’s school application. The admission authority can be either the governing body for foundation and voluntary-aided schools, or the local authority for community and voluntary-controlled schools. If the school of a parent’s choice deals with its own admissions (sometimes referred to as its own ‘admission authority’), they may have to apply directly to the school.

If parents want their child to go to a school where the local authority has responsibility, they must fill in a local authority admissions form, stating their preferred school. This is the case even if the school is their second choice. If they do not fill in a local authority admissions form, their child may not be allocated a school place until all those who did state a preference have been offered a place. It is then possible that the local school will be too full to take their child.

Local authorities coordinate admissions for all schools in their area in relation to primary and secondary school intakes. This simplifies the admissions process, as parents only need to complete a single common application form, issued by the local authority, which allows them to apply for a place at any school. The local authority will then pass on the application to any school that is its own admission authority so that they can decide if a child should be offered a place, based on published admission arrangements. If a parent has moved into a new area or wishes to change schools, their local authority should be able to advise them on how to apply for a new school.

Different types of school available for children aged 5 to 18 years

• infant schools -years one & two
• junior schools - years three to six (years one to six collectively known as primary schools)
• secondary schools - years seven to thirteen (these could be either comprehensive or selective) + sixth-form or FE colleges (these are for post-16 year-olds)

In drawing up admission arrangements, schools and local authorities must comply with the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 imposes a duty on governing bodies and local authorities to have a written statement of their policy for promoting race equality.

Furthermore, local authorities also have duties to assess and monitor the effects of their policies, and ensure that the admissions process is administered consistently and fairly to pupils from all backgrounds and communities. Admission authorities are also under a duty not to discriminate against disabled pupils, including prospective pupils.

See the Special Educational Needs and Disability Discrimination Act 2001, which brings education within the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

This does not mean that a school is obliged to take a child. Schools can refuse to admit a child for the following reasons:

• The school is already full
• The admissions policy of the school says that it prefers to take children who practice a certain religion
• The school is a grammar school and selects children on the basis of ability
• The school is nearly full and prefers children who meet certain conditions, such as living near the school or having a brother or sister already in the school

Parents or carers can appeal if they did not get an offer of a place at a school of their choice or if the child is unhappy about the offer for other reasons. Parents should get any refusals of a school place in form of a letter, as they need this as evidence if they wish to appeal. The letter should state why a school place has been refused. It should also have information about how and when to appeal (although parents may not be able to appeal if an infant school has reached its legal limit of 30 pupils for one qualified teacher).

Information and guidance on the admissions and appeal process can be found on the Parents Centre website (click ‘education and learning’ and ‘choosing a school’).

For further information see the DCSF website (Advisory Centre for Education, free education advice for parents) and the Children's Legal Centre.

Access to GCSE courses

A small number of schools and colleges have developed ‘access to GCSE courses’ for 15 to 18 year olds. Offering extensive English language support, these courses aim to prepare students with limited English for GCSE courses. After completing the access course, students can go on to take a full range of GCSEs.

In some cases, local authorities pay colleges and schools to run such courses. The structure and content of a course can vary from one provider to another, but it is important that such provision is full-time and appropriate to the needs of this age group. Access courses have dedicated teaching and administration staff.

Parents should find out from their local authorities about access courses available in their area. Or they could also ask the school the child attends if it runs such courses. If it does not, they can remain registered at the school and attend an access course at another educational institution.

Some local authorities have developed (usually part-time) induction classes for young people to help them prepare until they can access a fulltime place in a school. However, such classes are not an alternative to full-time education, and they should offer learning opportunities appropriate to age and ability. Advocates for the young person should continue to try to find a place in a mainstream school.

Free school meals, uniforms and travel passes

Refugee children are entitled to apply for free school meals in the same way as other children supported by means tested benefits. Possible proofs for entitlement are proof of income support, job seeker’s allowance, asylum support or local authority social services. Asylum seekers should have a letter stating they receive asylum support, or a payment card from the social services asylum team. It should be noted that application registration cards are not proof of financial support but simply confirm that the holder has applied for asylum. Children must apply to the local authority in which they are resident, which may not be the one that supports them or where they attend school. Guidance is available from the Parents Centre website (click ‘education and learning’, ‘school life’ then ‘school administration’).

School governing bodies are responsible for deciding whether their school should have a uniform policy, and, if so, what it should consist of. While pupils must adhere to a school’s uniform policy, schools must also be sensitive to the needs of different cultures, races and religions. Some local authorities have schemes to provide support and ensure that all pupils have a suitable uniform or school clothing. Grants are made at the discretion of the local authority.

The level of support provided and criteria for eligibility vary from authority to authority. Usually, pupils will be eligible for grants if their parents provide proof that they are in receipt of certain benefits, including income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance. Asylum seekers receiving asylum support or social services support are usually also eligible.

Further guidance can be found on the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority website (use the search facility to find information about school uniform grants).

The local authority has a statutory duty to provide a travel grant for children aged between five and 16 who live more than two miles from their primary school and three miles from their secondary school. However, young children who depend on BIA asylum support may have problems getting to school because their parents or carers will not have the money to accompany them on public transport. Some local authorities may use their discretion and provide someone to accompany young asylum-seeking children to school.

Local authorities also use their discretion in providing free school uniforms and bus passes to all children. The Family Welfare Association (FWA) can provide small grants to cover the cost of school uniforms and other essential items to families in need. You can apply for a grant through a worker, health visitor or another professional.

For details, phone the FWA on 020 7254 6251 from 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm, Mondays and Fridays only, or email grants.enquiry@fwa.org.uk

See Education welfare officers in this section. Some schools hold second hand uniform sales, where parents can buy school uniforms at discounted prices. Asylum support does not include provisions of funds for any of these items.

Education for young people aged 16+

Government funding for the education of young people aged 16 and over comes from a different source than that targeted at children of statutory school age. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) gives money to local authorities for schools with sixth forms, and for sixth form colleges and further education colleges.

Students aged 16 to 18 in full-time or part-time education do not have to pay tuition fees. (They must be under 19 on 31 August in the calendar year in which they start their programme of study.) They should also not have to pay compulsory fees for enrolling, registering or taking exams.

This includes students in the following groups:

• People with indefinite leave to remain or enter (ILR/ILE) who have been settled in the UK for the previous three years
• EU nationals (or their children who have been resident in the EU for the previous three years)
• EEA migrants (or their children who have been resident in the EEA for the previous three years)
• Recognised refugees (or their children)
• People refused refugee status but granted humanitarian protection (HP) or discretionary leave (DL) (or their children)
• People refused refugee status but granted exceptional leave to remain or enter (ELR) (before 01 April 2003) (or their children)

Students in these categories have an automatic right to any course at any institution and their eligibility should not be questioned. The LSC can consider the following groups for funding:

Asylum seekers and dependents in receipt of asylum support or assistance under the National Assistance Act 1948, Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 or the Children Act 1989)
Unaccompanied asylum seekers aged 16 to 18 in the care of social services
16 to18 year olds accompanying parents who have the right of abode or leave to enter or remain in the UK (such as through family reunion)

These students should also therefore enrol without a problem. Education providers should ask the local LSC to consider a student for funding if there are exceptional circumstances. Generally, young people who are already enrolled at a school with a sixth form are allowed to continue at the discretion of the head and in accordance with school sixth form (academic) entry policies. However, most 16 year olds usually go on to study at further education colleges. All skills for life provision (including ESOL, GCSE English and GCSE Mathematics) should be free to all learners.
See Funding Guidance for Further Education in 2008/09 on the Learning and Skills Council website.

Connexions The Connexions service is aimed at all 13 to 19 year olds. There are Connexions Partnerships that include agencies such as social services, careers companies, youth services, youth offending and drug action teams across all the regions in England. Advice and guidance from Connexions can be obtained through: Local Connexions One Stop Shop or community-based access point The Connexions website Connexions Direct helpline 080 800 13219 Asking the school or college to book a meeting with a personal adviser A personal adviser involved in outreach work contacting the young person directly Some local partnerships have personal advisers who work specifically with asylum-seeking youngsters and young refugees. Personal advisers will support, advise and help with: Careers advice Benefits, housing and finance Health, including access to services, sexual health and drugs The Connexions website provides a list of local Connexions partnerships.