Support for displaced students cannot stop at admission

Updated Sep 07, 2026

Admission and the experience of studying can look quite different. Yasar Kondakci, Sevgi Kaya Kasikci, Giorgio Marinoni and Kateryna Nakvatska illustrate this through interviews with 20 displaced Ukrainian students enrolled in French higher education.

What the full paper reports

The researchers used criterion and snowball recruitment and online interviews. Participants generally described access to higher education positively, valuing policy support, scholarships and institutional help. The earlier version of this briefing underplayed that finding.

During study, language barriers, difficulty joining social groups, administrative problems and financial pressures complicated experiences. Family, friends, Ukrainian communities and university support offered resources for managing those difficulties.

Education also represented hope and preparation for several possible futures: remaining in France, returning to Ukraine or moving elsewhere. These were intentions and interpretations, not observed migration outcomes.

The sample included students who had already gained admission, was predominantly female and contained no STEM participants. Its funding and educational profile may help explain the positive access accounts. It cannot represent all displaced learners or establish a causal effect on retention.

A practical question for universities

Our suggestion is to ask students separately about admission, current study and future options. A positive answer about one stage should not be assumed to describe the others.

Invite accounts of what worked as well as what remains difficult. Decide with students how their feedback can inform support without requiring them to repeat sensitive histories unnecessarily. An aggregate comment review should not replace a person's chosen route to individual advice.

The student comment analysis governance checklist can support decisions about access, ownership and follow-up. These are editorial suggestions, not a tested intervention from the paper.

FAQ

Did this study find that admission was generally unsuccessful?

No. Participants mostly described supported access, alongside more mixed experiences during study.

Can the findings be transferred directly to the UK?

No. Policy context, selection and participants' resources matter. Use the study to frame questions, then examine local experience.

Reference

Kondakci, Y., Kaya Kasikci, S., Marinoni, G., & Nakvatska, K. (2026). Navigating forcibly displaced learners’ pathways to higher education and beyond: Ukrainian students in French higher education. Higher Education. Paper source.

Correction, 7 September 2026: Replaced title-led inference with full-paper evidence, restored the positive access findings, added the sample and limited claims about retention and future outcomes.