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This Â鶹ÒùÔº Blog Special Issue grows out of the distinct yet shared lived experiences of its authors. Each of us has witnessed how, across the UK and Europe, refugee education is too often shaped by narratives that narrow rather than recognise displaced young people. We have seen how even well‑intentioned initiatives can drift into deficit frames, where students are encountered first through lenses that encompass only deficiencies, such as trauma, language gaps and cultural ‘differences’. Collectively, these seven blog posts ask what it might mean to take refugee students’ needs seriously – not by sorting or labelling them, but by attending to the conditions in which they can flourish as full members of educational communities.

The contributions to this issue explore:

• the experiences of young people who arrive later into the UK education system
• how schools can meaningfully respond to the pressures that refugee learners face
• how arts‑based practices create opportunities for expression, connection and intercultural understanding
• challenges to the idea that belonging is measurable or straightforwardly reported
• how educational settings can become stabilising environments when they cultivate trust and attend to the intersecting dimensions of young people’s lives
• the balance that teachers must strike between creating space for dialogue and avoiding expectations that refugee learners should disclose personal experiences or educate others
• challenges to reductive stereotypes by showing how whole‑school approaches that recognise strengths and value multilingualism benefit not only sanctuary‑seeking learners but school communities more broadly.