RefugEAP Scheme Launch

EAP Programme for Refugee-Background Students and EAP4SJ RefugEAP Working Group

At the Universities of Sanctuary conference in November 2021, we were delighted to be part of the soft launch of RefugEAP, which will be a scheme whereby EAP practitioners from across the UK and beyond work to increase opportunities for refugee-background students to access both formal and non-formal EAP provision. You can access the recording of this session here and the slides here. If you are keen to get involved, you can fill in this online expression of interest form.

RefugEAP is being set up to fill unmet needs for EAP for refugee-background students by adopting a two-pronged approach:

• Strand 1 – The RefugEAP Programme of non-formal classes and learning opportunities for refugee-background students: EAP practitioners from across the UK and beyond will be able to volunteer to teach EAP to classes of UK-based refugee-background students online. For many students, these classes will serve the function of an non-formal stop-gap for those who are waiting for a place on a formal pre-sessional (pre-degree academic English) programme, giving them an invaluable opportunity to continue to develop their academic English, and be guided towards appropriate self-study resources while they are waiting for more formal opportunities to become available. This strand will be run by the University of Leicester and supported by partners (who are actively contributing time and/or resources to the running of the scheme) in the steering committee, including RefuAid, Password and Screen Share UK.

• Strand 2 – The RefugEAP Working Group (which will sit within the EAP4SJ SIG): This group will work to improve formal opportunities for refugee-background students to access formal EAP provision across the UK HE sector. This will be done this through sharing evidence of successful initiatives, building strong cases and conducting advocacy work within institutions, and serving to connect individuals and institutions from across the sector who are keen to take this work forward. We will also advocate for institutions to recognise each other’s pre-sessional exit grades for refugee-background students to give students more opportunities for further study

Associates will be any individuals or organisations which have a connection with the RefugEAP scheme. This might include: universities who refer refugee-background students into the scheme from their waiting lists; universities to whom RefugEAP students are referred (either onto formal EAP programmes or onto degree programmes); universities who agree to accept each other’s pre-sessional exit grades for admission onto degree programmes.

For more information, you can access the session recording and/or slides, and further details will be available shortly. If you are keen to get involved, you can fill in this online expression of interest form. For any other queries, please contact Aleks Palanac at ap417@le.ac.uk