Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to provide additional support for students who have entered UK schools through the (a) Ukrainian, (b) Hong Kong and (c) Afghanistan resettlement schemes.

All pupils, regardless of immigration status, are entitled to education between the ages of 5 to 16, and are free to apply for a school place at any time.

The Department is clear that the best place for all children to be educated is in school, and that attending school is vital to help newly arrived children integrate as quickly as possible into the communities in which they are living.

The Department has supported arrivals via humanitarian and resettlement schemes through the provision of funding to Local Authorities for all arrivals aged 2 to 18. This funding was paid in the 2022/23 financial year for those who arrived via the Homes for Ukraine scheme and in both the 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years for those who arrived from Afghanistan and lived in bridging accommodation. Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homes-for-ukraine-education-and-childcare-funding, and: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-education-grant.