Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve access to education of refugees; and if he will make a statement.

Refugee children in the UK must be treated as UK residents for the purposes of admission to schools in England. The School Admissions Code contains provisions to ensure that refugee children are able to secure a suitable school place.

All schools are required to give highest priority in their admissions criteria to looked after children and previously looked after children. Unaccompanied refugee children are looked after children and will therefore have highest priority for admission.

Outside the normal admissions round, every local authority is required to have a Fair Access Protocol to ensure that unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, which specifically includes refugees, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible.