In this paper I explore the racialised context and implications of policies affecting the education of young refugees and asylum seekers in England. While previous research has examined both education policy for refugees, and race inequality in education in England, education policy for refugees and race is an under-researched area. I conduct a Critical Policy Analysis of education policy for refugees and draw on insights from both Critical Race Theory and the concept of racist nativism to theorise both the racialised context and racialised outcomes for refugees. The concept of racist nativism originates in the US and denotes the link between race and immigration status and the interaction between racism and nativism (Lippard, 2011). It describes the positioning of the native as white, and the non-native as raced. I focus on issues such as the absence of specific policy for refugees, the lack, or inadequacy of English language classes, the competitive nature of the education system, and the policy clash between young refugees’ right to education and the way in which wider refugee and asylum policies actually present a barrier to access to education. I argue that since 2010, education policy for refugees has not only been fuelled by discourses of racist nativism, but fuels these discourses as well by maintaining white, nativist norms, leading to the racialisation of refugees, producing educational disadvantage, and leading to a promotion of white supremacy.

Lippard, C. D. (2011). Racist Nativism in the 21st Century. Sociology Compass 5(7), 591–606.