UK apologises to Ukrainian child refugees who were steered towards studying Russian

The UK's schools minister, Georgia Gould, apologised on 4 November to Ukrainian refugee children who were urged to study Russian in English schools because there was no GCSE exam in Ukrainian. The GCSE is the standard qualification taken in England at the end of compulsory secondary schooling. The government at the same time launched funding for a Ukrainian-language version.

The new qualification will be ready in England in 2028. It is being developed by the AQA exam board with a £340,000 grant from the Department for Education (DfE). It follows years of lobbying by the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian community groups. More than 30,000 Ukrainian children have come to the UK since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Apology and earlier concerns

Gould said many students had been pushed into studying Russian and that she was sorry they were put in that position. In a 2024 letter to the DfE, Ukraine's education ministry said it was deeply concerned that school staff were pressuring Ukrainian children to take the Russian GCSE. Former refugees described the suggestion as insulting.

Gould made the announcement at St Mary's school in west London, the centre of a network of 13 Ukrainian-language schools in the UK. There she met Vitalii Andronik, 20, who was urged to study Russian GCSE at 15. He welcomed the new qualification and the apology, saying it came too late for him but would matter for future generations of refugees.

Sofiia Chonka, 16, who came to London from Zakarpattia with her family in June 2024, refused when told to study Russian. She said she would take the new exam when it becomes available.

Next steps

Ukraine's education minister, Andrii Butenko, thanked the UK government and said work with AQA and the DfE would continue. Inna Hryhorovych, head of St Mary's Trust, who has campaigned for the GCSE since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, said the next campaign would be for a Ukrainian A-level. Gould said only the GCSE is being developed for now, and encouraged British pupils to take it as a gesture of solidarity.