Ten years after arriving in Germany: How have the language skills, educational paths, and social participation of young refugees developed? These questions are the focus of the new EduRef (“Educational Careers and Outcomes of Young Refugees”) outcome study at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi). The institute has been accompanying the young participants on their educational paths since they came to Germany as children or adolescents with their parents. The data obtained in the project provides important insights into the conditions that promote integration in the long term and where there is a need for political and practical action.
The aim of the EduRef outcome study is to gain insights into the long-term integration of young refugees into the German education and training system and the labor market. The new project will start in February and follows on thematically from the two refugee studies based at LIfBi, ReGES (“Refugees in the German Educational System”) and “Educational Pathways of Refugee Children and Young People.” As part of EduRef, participants who are now young adults or adults will be surveyed annually in online interviews. The focus will be on their current educational and employment situation. Other educational outcomes such as linguistic integration, health, satisfaction, intentions to stay, and social and political participation will also be taken into account.
The annually recurring survey content is supplemented by variable questions that address current social developments or age- and life-stage-specific characteristics. In this way, the study contributes to a differentiated portrayal of integration processes and creates a sound scientific basis for policy, administration, and practice.
Data already provides important insights
The long-term monitoring of participants began with the ReGES project and focused on integration into the German early childhood and school education system. Scientific evaluations to date clearly show the particular challenges involved in integrating refugees into the education system. German language skills in particular are a major obstacle: even after an average of four years in Germany, refugee children of kindergarten age were unable to catch up substantially with native children in terms of their German language skills and thus started primary school with poorer language skills. This highlights the importance of better language support as early as preschool age.
Scientific analyses showed that the school careers of adolescent participants were interrupted for more than a year on average due to their flight and arrival in Germany. Whether they were then enrolled in school in Germany at an age-appropriate level and which types of schools they attended depended largely on the federal state and place of residence.
The data from the first seven surveys are already available to the scientific community for research purposes. A further data publication and an anthology of research results are currently in preparation.
ReGES data offering
Refugee studies at LIfBi
The EduRef outcome project follows on from the two refugee studies based at LIfBi: ReGES (“Refugees in the German Educational System”) and “Educational pathways of refugee children and young people.” The ReGES study was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) from July 2016 to December 2021 and was conducted at LIfBi. The participants were further monitored in the study “Educational Pathways of Refugee Children and Adolescents,” which was initially funded by the BMBF and, since summer 2025, by the Federal Ministry for Education, Family, Seniors, Women, and Youth (BMBFSFJ). The EduRef outcome study, also funded by the BMBFSFJ, will start in February 2026.
ReGES succeeded in drawing a unique sample of children and young people shortly after their flight. A total of more than 2,400 children and more than 2,400 young people from five federal states were included in the study. Parents and educational professionals in kindergartens and schools were also involved. The participants were accompanied in both projects in a longitudinal study over a total of nine measurement points. This stable panel population and the knowledge about their educational history to date now form the starting point for the EduRef outcome study.
The successive refugee studies focus on two groups: The participating children were at least four years old at the start of the surveys but were not yet attending school. This group provides insight into the contribution of kindergarten, the primary school phase, and the transition to the structured school system. At the start of the EduRef outcome study, these participants are now 13 years old and most of them are in lower secondary school. The second group of participants are young adults who were between 14 and 16 years old at the start of the study and were still in lower secondary school in the general education system. For this group, the focus is now on the transition to vocational training, higher education, and entry into the labor market. At the start of the EduRef outcome study, the young adults are between 23 and 25 years old.
EduRef project page