Ukrainian refugee achieves his dream, thanks to English UK member

When the Russian army invaded Ukraine, Valerii Teslia was 17 and in his first year of a law degree. The teenager and his mother, who lived near Crimea, fled the war zone and were offered a home in Oxford.

Now, 2.5 years later, Valerii is restarting his undergraduate career. This time he's taking Business and Management (Entrepreneurships and Innovation) at the University of Reading. Achieving his dream has been made possible by English UK member Oxford International, which offers free tuition to refugees supported by our partner Breaking Barriers.

Oxford International helped him raise his IELTS level from 5.5 to the 7.5 he needed for university entrance.

All the support he needed

"It was amazing there, one of the best periods of my life," said Valerii. "It was really awesome and the staff were great. They had amazing support for me and I also had amazing support from Ilaria at Breaking Barriers. Every time I had questions or concerns about how things would work in the future they would always explain. I made a lot of friends and they made me very welcome – and I am still very welcome there."

Valerii, who started working as an activity leader at Oxford International during the five months he spent working on his English, found out about the support Breaking Barriers provides when he began asking language schools in the city about schemes for refugees. Once he received an unconditional offer from Reading University, Breaking Barriers also arranged for him to join a pre-sessional course to help him make the most of the opportunity.

UK people kind and supportive

His dream is to start his own business, but right now he is enjoying his new life in the UK.

"When I first came here I had culture shock for the first two months. Now I am feeling very comfortable here, and not feeling so comfortable anywhere but the UK. People are really kind towards me and my mum.

"Working at the school in Oxford, everyone was really kind and supportive too and so was the host who invited us to the UK. People around us were wonderful and I've never had any problems."

Could your centre or your staff help refugees like Valerii?

At present Breaking Barriers is particularly keen to enlist teachers who could provide online or face-to-face support for students without a nearby English UK centre. Some centres offer teachers during their contracted hours as part of corporate social responsibility programmes.

British Council-accredited language centres can also support the project  by offering face-to-face or online teaching, in particular pre-sessional, IELTS, OET or other exam preparation courses.  Each partner teaching centre offers up to four student places on a rolling basis, and Breaking Barriers provides a caseworker and financial support with travel expenses, course materials and exam fees. 

Contact Ilaria Tarulli, Breaking Barriers' programme lead, to find out more or offer support.