Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) has seen a significant rise in the number of newly arrived displaced young people in recent years in light of the new humanitarian visa pathways for people arriving from Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine. Oxfordshire County Council have identified a number of challenges for older teenagers, aged 16-19, arriving post-compulsory school age with accessing education, employment or training. As a result, OCC’s Migrant Education Team has set up a bespoke service to provide education and careers information, advice, and guidance (IAG) to newly arrived young people aged 16-19. With additional funding from the Ministry of Defence, the team have also set up an intensive programme with ESOL, functional skills, Duke of Edinburgh training and education/careers advice for Afghan 16-18-year-olds who are not in education and living in transitional accommodation.
This research, commissioned by Oxfordshire Migration Partnership, explores the profile and educational needs of 16-19-year-olds arriving on these visa pathways to better understand their aspirations, map their pathways to information and guidance and understand the barriers and opportunities for designing and delivering this support and for young people in accessing it.
