Gabrielle Smallbone, Senior Lecturer in English for Academic and Professional Development writes for us about Kingston University London’s language project to help refugee-background students enter higher education.
London is home to an estimated 48,000 resettled refugees and asylum seekers. Not only have they experienced the trauma of forced displacement and the on-going struggle to build new lives, they have also lost their future. Many have been unable to start or complete the higher education they were planning or come with qualifications and skills they cannot use in their new home until they requalify. Completing their university education could enable them to build sustainable futures commensurate with their skills, abilities and aspirations.
Widening participation for those from a forced-migration background is a UNHCR target. Their UNHCR 15by30 goal seeks 15% university enrolment for those from a refugee-background by 2030 (it’s currently 7%). But getting to university can present significant challenges for refugee-background students – they need recognition of their existing qualifications and suitable funding.
They also need proof of a suitable level of English for university study. Yet access to funded academic English classes, the kind of tuition and support that will prepare you for language assessments such as IELTS and future university life, is hard to come by. Without funding, classes and assessments are prohibitively expensive.
In London, we have a significant number of universities and higher education colleges. The majority of these institutions offer some form of academic English language support to their students. Could this existing provision be offered locally to resettled residents to support their progression into HE? This was the idea behind the Higher Education Ready project, a collaboration between Kingston University and the Royal Borough of Kingston (RBK)
In a small-scale pilot initiative started in January 2023 by myself and Rev. Prof. Alison Baverstock, working with RBK colleagues who shared course details with suitable candidates. Kingston University subsequently welcomed nine resettled Kingston residents onto its established10-week KLS English (Kingston Language Scheme) course. The course, offered at four levels, includes a weekly lesson focusing on the language and skills needed for academic life, a developed syllabus of online independent study materials for pre- and post-lesson practice, with formative end-of-block assessments in all skills.
Following the course, through interviews and analysis, the resettled residents told us that studying at a university helped them visualise new futures for themselves, to feel that they were working towards achievable goals and that they were building new identities for themselves as students – all rooted in their new home. They also valued being part of a university course that included a diverse range of students, provided within their local area. Benefits flowed both ways; we found our Kingston University students were inspired by their new classmates and the varied perspectives they brought. Course teachers told us of their enthusiasm for study and how this positively impacted class dynamics.
As a university, we also learnt a great deal from this cohort. These students were managing multiple challenges and a heavy and complex life-load that could impact their engagement and participation, or even ability to complete. We recognised they needed support in transitioning onto the course, navigating the systems typical of a large organisation and the complexities of progression into HE. We identified a need for additional academic writing materials that would benefit both this group and Kingston University’s students.
Following the successful 10-week pilot and realising we could bridge locally the gap in academic English language provision in the borough, we formed a collaborative, jointly-funded partnership with RBK to support Kingston’s resettled residents actively seeking to enter HE .
In October 2023, the course (full academic year) was developed to incorporate the findings of the pilot. Additions included one-to-one academic mentoring and support for each student on the cohort, and for each level, a parallel academic writing syllabus with independent study materials and writing tasks on which students received feedback. We also partnered with Password English Language Testing Ltd, and so, were able to offer a language test that serves as proof of English language level.
Ten resettled residents joined us in academic year 23/24. Attendance and participation were both above average, and all who ended the year with us successfully completed the course assessments. In terms of outcomes, all will be eligible to progress to the next level of the course. Thanks to their Password Skills Solo test, one student will be starting their undergraduate degree in September, and two others are actively looking for post-graduate courses for this year or next.
Could this cost-effective type of local collaboration, using existing courses with relevant development offer a cohesive and sustainable pathway into higher education for those from a resettled background? Our experience says yes, with benefits to all involved.
