RefuAid and English UK
We work in partnership with RefuAid, a charity that works to restore independence and dignity to refugees.
RefuAid partners with UK language centres to give their clients access to the language teaching they need to pass IELTS or OET exams, allowing them to continue their careers or education in the UK. The charity also provides loans enabling clients to get the UK accreditation and training they need to return to work.
Since the charity was founded in 2015, more than 90 English UK centres and many individual teachers have supported over 800 RefuAid clients in getting the IELTS or OET qualification they needed.
In the year to May 2023, 598 students were supported on language programmes, and 192 graduated with the qualifications they needed. Of the students who got the language qualifications they needed, 41% went on to study at a UK university, 27% were healthcare providers working towards requalification, and 32% were other experienced professionals including engineers, lawyers, data scientists and vets.
How to support RefuAid's language programme
There are opportunities for British Council-accredited language centres across the UK to support the project by offering tuition-free face-to-face or online teaching. There is particular demand for pre-sessional, IELTS, OET or other exam preparation courses.
Each partner teaching centre offers up to four student places on a rolling basis, and RefuAid provides a caseworker and financial support with travel expenses, course materials and exam fees.
RefuAid is also keen to enlist teachers who could provide online or face-to-face support for students without a nearby English UK centre. Some centres offer teachers during their contracted hours as part of corporate social responsibility programmes.
Anna Jones, co-founder of RefuAid, says:
"We are incredibly grateful for the support from English UK schools, which provide a lifeline for those who've arrived in the UK seeking asylum to return to higher education or employment. Without this programme, hundreds of people would remain locked out of employment and education due to the language barrier and requirement for qualifications such as OET or IELTS. Additionally, RefuAid clients bring an incredible perspective to the classes they join: hard-working and driven, we often hear from schools how brilliant it has been for teachers to include RefuAid students in their classes."
Download the RefuAid guide with tips on successfully integrating displaced students in the ELT classroom.
Who does RefuAid's language programme help?
Requests for all types of RefuAid support are now running at 260 a month. In 2021, the age of the refugees varies - for doctors, it was 38 on average and 18 for students. The service is only for people aged 18+
The largest single group studying on the language programme in 2021 was doctors. RefuAid's moving case histories include the story of anaesthetist Dr Wafaa Alnason, who arrived in the UK in 2017 after fleeing Syria and later worked on the Covid frontline in an east London hospital. Another doctor, Manal, contacted RefuAid in January 2020 because she needed to sit the OET language exam to begin her medical requalification: she is now a fully registered UK doctor training new vaccinators in Liverpool.
The full list of 2021's graduates makes extraordinary reading: they came from all over the world, and every single one is in a job or a higher-level qualification which will enable them to make a positive impact in the UK.
Download the 2022-23 RefuAid impact report.
Find out more
English UK RefuAid news updates
