Language centres and Breaking Barriers – how you helped refugees back into work and education

Many members work with our partner Breaking Barriers, offering free language tuition to refugees to help them into work or continuing education in the UK.

Sharing the charity's latest impact report, Ilaria Tarulli, head of the language programme, thanked English UK and its members for supporting its clients. Many English UK members started working with the programme before it moved from RefuAid to Breaking Barriers last year.

English UK centres support refugees to succeed

Ilaria said: "Since our merger in December 2024, nearly 180 clients have completed our language programme and are now progressing to university, entering the workforce, or pursuing their professional requalification pathways. Your support has been a key part of this success, and it belongs to you as much as it does to us."

Inspirational and driven students

Fiona Dunlop, principal of Wimbledon School of English, was quoted in the report: "We have had so many positive results from the students coming to study with us over the years. They are always inspirational and driven, bringing so much to our student body and to the school in general. We are humbled by their stories, their efforts and their progress as we see them making friends, achieving academic goals and rebuilding study journeys or careers.

"We thank Breaking Barriers for all that it does in allowing us to support these students. Its support and hard work makes this happen so seamlessly. All in all, it's a great partnership, building something positive in the lives of those in need of a little support, through no fault of their own."

The report's introduction said: "Our vision is for Breaking Barriers to support many more refugees, in more communities, across the UK. Helping them to achieve their career goals and build new lives. And we want to see more businesses realise that hiring refugees isn't just morally right, it enriches workplaces and is smart economics. The UK stands to gain enormously from the skills, perspectives and resilience refugees bring."

The most successful year

The impact report said 2024-25 had been the charity's most successful, supporting 1,450 clients, the largest ever number and a 16% increase on 2023-24. "These aren't just numbers. They represent transformed lives, unlocked potential, and strengthened futures," says the report.

The language and re-accreditation programmes joined Breaking Barriers' Employability Programme, which provides support and training to help refugees identify, access and apply for workplace and education opportunities. Most clients are already highly educated, with 71% of those supported in the past year having an undergraduate degree or equivalent qualification and 24% with a master's or PhD. Breaking Barriers clients had a higher level of education than the British public – 78% with a certificate or diploma of higher education, compared with 37%.

The charity works with over 160 language teaching institutions across the UK to support clients pass the English language test clients need for most jobs or academic progress.

New jobs, goals met, and volunteering

As well as supporting more clients than before, the charity says there were a record 904 positive outcomes on their employment journeys, including starting jobs, achieving goals or becoming a volunteer. This was a 27% increase on the previous year.

500 clients were supported to take education opportunities in 2024-25 – an increase of 55% because of the integration of the Language Programme. Support included in-house education classes as well as courses offered by accredited ELT centres and universities.

219 clients got 269 new jobs and achieved 584 positive education and training outcomes. This was a 66% increase on 2023-24 and was primarily because of the Language and Re-accreditation programmes joining the charity, although only for the last six months of the year.

> Read Breaking Barriers impact report 2024-25