Immigration is a matter of huge public concern. The public debate focuses on the large numbers of people coming to the UK and how to reduce those numbers. There is far less discussion of our humanitarian obligations to these people, and particularly toward child migrants and refugees. And there is surprisingly little research into these children and what their needs might be.
The scale of the issue
It is difficult to get a clear fix on the numbers of recently arrived child migrants and refugees currently in our schools. UK sources such as the Office for National Statistics are coy, or do not measure this, or as emerged in the news in November, have wildly inaccurate data. Our best guess comes from UNICEF.
UNICEF asserts that between January and June 2020, one-third of migrants/refugees arriving in Europe were children. It estimates that 3,445 child migrants/refugees came to UK in that six-month period.
UNICEF has no age break-down for these children, but across the EU found that 30% of migrant/refugee children were aged 0 to 4 years, 53% were 5 to 14 years, and 17% were 15 to 17.
So, for the 3,445 children noted for the UK, this would suggest 1,033 pre-school child migrants/refugees arriving in the first half of 2020, many of whom will now be of school age, plus 1,826 child migrants aged 5 to 14 and 586 aged 15 to 17.
It is worth underlining that these figures are from one single six-month period during the pandemic, when travel was much harder. Are there similar numbers arriving every six months? This is not a small population. And given climate change and political realities, this is only going to escalate.
The shape of the issue in secondary schools
Young migrants come in many forms. The majority come with parents legally entering our workforce. Some are refugees from war zones or other problematic situations. Some are illegal entrants who have survived dangerous journeys. There are no available data on how many children are in each category. All are facing considerable upheaval and cultural change – and they deserve support.
But those who are refugees face the worst challenges and need the greatest support – and these children are the main focus of this article.
Mental health in migrant and refugee teenagers
A priori, one would assume that migrant and refugee children would be at high risk of mental health problems. Even those in families coming to work face risk factors, such as the upheaval of migration itself, and the consequent loss or distancing from former support systems such as extended family, friendships, school.
Membership of an ethnic or cultural minority in the new location is also a risk factor for mental health problems (Deng et al, 2021). Refugees and asylum-seekers face all these issues and more.
The view that teenage refugees are simply relieved to find themselves safe in UK is naïve. However grateful to be in a safe place now, escaping a war zone (for example) does not end one’s difficulties. For example, teenage refugees may well be living in dire and uncertain domestic and socio-economic situations, also a risk factor for mental health (Deng et al, 2021; Frounfelker et al, 2020). Those who have experienced trauma and violence are at the greatest risk of mental health problems (UK Trauma Council, 2025).
How many teenager refugees have mental health problems? Research in this area is very poor, as the UK Trauma Council notes.
Estimates vary widely (Bronstein & Montgomery, 2011). Estimates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) range from 19% to 54%, for example, estimates of depression vary from 3% to 30%.
These discrepancies across studies may reflect naivete as to the well-established fact that mental health issues are experienced and expressed differently across different cultures (Gopalkrishnan, 2018), and other methodological issues (Frounfelker et al, 2020).
Mental health problems in refugees include behavioural issues (“acting out”), generalised anxiety and depression, traumatic grief, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Refugees who have lived with chronic fear are also continuingly hypersensitive to potential threats in the new environment, which readily induces stress (Hahnefeld et al, 2021). It takes time to rebuild trust – sometimes a lifetime.
Educational issues in migrant and refugee teenagers
Moving from any school system to another will present challenges to teenagers. As with mental health, educational issues are more severe for refugees and asylum-seekers because their education has often been interrupted or disrupted, sometimes severely (Dangmann et al., 2020; Lindsay et al., 2022). The more education that has been missed, the greater the challenges these teenagers face.
How big is the educational problem for refugee children? As the UK Trauma Council report cited above notes, there is surprisingly little research. What there is reports widely varied results, with some studies reporting that migrants and refugees experience challenges in schooling, and others reporting that these young people perform at or above average levels. Conflicting results reflect methodological differences in how the question was asked, and of whom.
Supporting young migrants and refugees in school
One would hope that the UK will soon develop better research and, better resources to support migrant and refugee children. Nonetheless, there is general expert consensus that schools can play a vital role in improving the lives of migrant and refugee children, in fostering both their education and their mental health (Dangmann et al, 2020).
While we wait for better understanding, recognition and resources, we can focus on the following areas:
- Identifying issues: Schools are well placed to identify teenagers struggling with mental health or educational problems. Flagging that a child has problems is important: it documents the need for resources in this area and may trigger support for the individual. There are effective interventions for the mental health problems experienced by refugee teenagers (Frounfelker et al, 2020). Sadly access to these is likely to be hard. As we know, CAMHS is overwhelmed.
- Problems with language: Newly arrived migrants and refugees may need extra help with learning English – but this may be the least of our issues. The old idea that you have to start learning a second language before age 10 to be rapidly fluent may be wrong: research suggests that, with school support, learning can be quick even at age 18 (Hartshorne et al, 2018).
- Integration, socialisation: Schools that provide strong social communities, social clubs, and opportunities for friendships provide the best support for mental health in refugees (Samara et al, 2020). A sense of “belonging” to a community reduces the incidence of PTSD and depression (Cardeli et al, 2020). In this context, is a “buddy” system beneficial for new arrivals? Common sense suggests that it is. Research is absent.
Understanding and awareness
It is difficult to understand a teenager’s experiences when they are far beyond our own. The best we can do is humbly acknowledge the limitations of our understanding, even in the lives of migrant families coming to work in the UK, let alone refugees fleeing intolerable situations.
Should you encourage a teenager to talk about their experiences and worries? While it is always good to make the young aware that sympathetic, non-judgemental adults who will hear their stories in confidence are available, it should always be the teenager who is in control of whether they want to talk, and when.
It is important to be aware of cultural differences in how mental health issues are experienced, and how acceptable it is to acknowledge or discuss such things (Gopalkrishnan, 2018).
Brits in 1950 would reticently assert that they were “just fine” in situations where today they would be happy to pour out woe. Back then, Brits were ashamed to admit to distress, to not coping, to a variety of feelings deemed acceptable today. Not every culture has made that transition and pressure to disclose may damage.
Learning all the time
One mistake that adults often make is assuming that the young understand more than they actually do about the world they find themselves in. This can be a particular problem with migrant/refugee teenagers and needs sensitive handling to avoid teasing and bullying.
Encourage migrant and refugee teens (and everyone else) to ask questions when they are puzzled and be ready to give full answers. A classroom culture that accepts such puzzles without negative judgement, without teasing or bullying, is a blessing indeed – for everyone.
- Dr Stephanie Thornton is an author and lecturer in psychology and child development. She is the co-author of Understanding Developmental Psychology (Macmillan International/Red Globe, 2021). To read her previous articles for SecEd, visit www.sec-ed.co.uk/authors/dr-stephanie-thornton
Resources & further reading
- Oner: Additional Support for Refugees, Asylum Seekers & Resettlement (Padlet): https://padlet.com/rachel_oner/refugeeASsupport
- Refugee Week: https://refugeeweek.org.uk/refugee-week-at-your-school/
- Hopkins: Welcoming and supporting Ukrainian refugees in your school, SecEd, 2022: www.sec-ed.co.uk/content/best-practice/welcoming-and-supporting-ukrainian-refugees-in-your-school
- Twumasi: Welcoming and integrating refugee children into school, SecEd, 2024: www.sec-ed.co.uk/content/best-practice/welcoming-and-integrating-refugee-children-into-school
Further information & references
- Bronstein & Montgomery: Psychological distress in refugee children, Clinical Child and Family Psychological Review (14), 2011.
- Cardeli et al: The importance of assessing and addressing psychosocial needs in a school setting, Journal of School Health (90), 2020: https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12935
- Dangmann et al: Health-related quality of life in young Syrian refugees recently resettled in Norway, Scandinavian Journal of Public Health (48), 2020.
- Deng et al: Predicting negative and positive affect during Covid-19: A daily diary study in youths, Journal of Research on Adolescence (31), 2021.
- Frounfelker et al: Mental health of refugee children and youth: Epidemiology, interventions and future directions, Annual Review of Public Health (7), 2020.
- Gopalkrishnan: Cultural diversity and mental health: considerations for policy and practice, Frontiers in Public Health (6), 2018.
- Hahnefeld et al: Survival states as indicators of learning performance and biological stress in refugee children, BMC Psychiatry (21.1), 2021: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03233-y
- Hartshorne, Tenenbaum & Pinker: A critical period for second language acquisition: Evidence from 2/3 million English speakers, Cognition (177), 2018.
- Lindsay et al: Looking beyond: Complex holistic care needs of Syrian and Iraqi refugee children and adolescents, Archives of Disease in Childhood (107,5), 2022: https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2021-322718
- Samara et al: Examining the psychological wellbeing of refugee children and the role of friendship and bullying, British Journal of Educational Psychology (90), 2020: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12282
- UK Trauma Council: A review of the evidence: Understanding educational experiences of children and young people who are seeking refuge and asylum, accessed January 2025: https://uktraumacouncil.org/resource/refuge-and-asylum-literature-review
- UNICEF: Latest statistics and graphics on refugee and migrant children, accessed January 2025: www.unicef.org/eca/emergencies/latest-statistics-and-graphics-refugee-and-migrant-children