Research publication launch

Earlier this month, AccessHE welcomed over 40 practitioners and policy makers to the National Centre for Voluntary Organisations for the launch of a piece of research to investigate some of the challenges faced by unaccompanied asylum seeker children (UASC) in trying to access higher education in the UK. Drawing upon the views and experiences of UASC already in HE, together with input from local authorities, third sector organisations, the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) and higher education institutions, the report identifies barriers to UASC progressing to HE but also offers a number of key recommendations for different stakeholder groups. Commissioned by Brunel University London, the report was very well received and we were particularly pleased that Brunel were also able to arrange for one of the students interviewed in the report to speak about their experiences in front of the audience. Indeed, comments were made about how valuable it was to hear first hand from this student to help contextualise the research and highlight the urgency of the support needs for this particular group of care leavers.

The full report can be found on the AccessHE website: https://www.accesshe.ac.uk/resources/publications/