The July 2013 court ruling that Newcastle City Council should offer two recent care leavers who sought asylum in the UK loans to?allow them to access higher education has been portrayed by sections of the press as a waste of?taxpayers¡¯ money. This portrayal is divisive, irresponsible and damaging. We regard the judgment as a victory for the human right to education.

Yonas and Abiy Admasu Kebede came to the UK from Ethiopia in 2004 and were taken into foster care in Newcastle after they were separated from their family. The brothers were granted discretionary leave to remain until 2014, when they will be legally entitled to apply for permanent residence.

Since 2011, prospective students in England with discretionary leave to?remain have been disqualified from ¡°home student¡± status, so they are not entitled to student loans and can be charged overseas fees. In this context, the court ruled that the council¡¯s duties towards young people leaving its care should include meeting the costs of their education: as the appeal judge pointed out, it was extremely unlikely that they would have the resources to?pay for higher education. In the case of the Ethiopian brothers, their immigration status meant that they could not access student loans.

Research in Newcastle has shown that care leavers are at particular risk of homelessness, and refugees who secure permanent leave to remain suffer disproportionately high levels of unemployment, or insecure and exploitative work. The brothers belong to both groups, having sought asylum and left care; these are very good reasons to offer them the support they need.

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Education is an investment in the future. We believe that all young people should have access to higher education, regardless of their immigration status. Universities also have a responsibility: they could charge asylum seekers and those with discretionary leave to remain home fees or waive them altogether. Some already do so: we urge others to follow suit.

The denial of home student status to young people with discretionary leave to remain is an injustice and compounds the stress and uncertainty they face in rebuilding their lives without knowing if they will be forced to leave the UK once their status expires. The court ruling should be celebrated as a victory in the broader struggle for access to higher education.

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Tom Vickers, Northumbria 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Newcastle
Joanna Allan, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Leeds
Robert Moore, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Liverpool
Ben Pitcher, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Westminster
Demelza Jones, Aston 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Umut Erel, Open 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Carol Stephenson, Northumbria 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Newcastle
Ruth Lewis, Northumbria 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Newcastle
Catriona Hugman, Northumbria 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Newcastle
Daniela Sime, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Strathclyde
Teresa Piacentini, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Glasgow
Lola Okolosie, teacher and writer
Lucy Michael, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Hull
Ibrahim Sirkeci, Regent¡¯s 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ London
Mark Cresswell, Durham 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Paul Francis
Sadie Boniface, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ College London
Jeff Goatcher, Nottingham Trent 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Helen Charnley, Durham 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Louise Waite, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Leeds
Monish Bhatia, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Huddersfield
Kye Askins, Northumbria 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Newcastle
Hannah Lewis, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Leeds
Ishan Ashutosh, Northumbria 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Newcastle
Ala Sirriyeh, Keele 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
John Clayton, Northumbria 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Newcastle
Gary Craig, Durham 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Ian Fitzgerald, Northumbria 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Newcastle
Rita Chadha, Refugee & Migrant Forum of East London
Emma Jackson, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Glasgow
Gurminder Bhambra, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Warwick
Gargi Bhattacharyya, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of East London
Cecily Jones, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Warwick
Joanne Britton, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Sheffield
Christopher Hart, Lancaster 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Kirsten Forkert, Birmingham City 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Emily Knox, Loughborough 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Ghazala Mir, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Leeds
Nick Fox, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Sheffield
Matt Baillie Smith, Northumbria 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Newcastle
Barbara Howard-Hunt, Birmingham City 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Gwyneth Lonergan, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Manchester
Simon Goodman, Coventry 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
John Moore, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of the West of England
Victoria Armstrong, Durham 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Jo Brewis, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Leicester
Robert MacDonald, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Teesside
Afroze Zaidi-Jivraj, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Birmingham
Damien Short, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of London
Yvette Taylor, London South Bank 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Lucy Robinson, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Sussex
Imogen Tyler, Lancaster 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Kim Allen, Manchester Metropolitan 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Imran Awan, Birmingham City 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Emily Wykes, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Nottingham
Leena Kumarappan, London Metropolitan 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Alganesh Messele
Claire Bynner, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Glasgow
Joanna Virginia Wiseman, Newcastle 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Debra Hayes, Manchester Metropolitan 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Sadie Ryan, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Glasgow
Kath Sainsbury, Justice First, Teesside
North of England Refugee Service
Lucy Fairley
Young RAPAR (Refugee and Asylum Seeker Participatory Action Research)
International Community Organisation of Sunderland
Kathryn Dodd, retired/independent sociologist
FODI (Friends of the opin for asylum seekers and refugees), Sunderland
Rachel Hurdley, Cardiff 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ and Trustee, Welsh Refugee Council
Max Farrar, Leeds
Louise Sutcliffe, Newcastle City Council
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! North East
Hyun-Joo Lim, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Bath
Catherine Pope, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Southampton
Kirsty Liddiard, Ryerson 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Toronto
Claire Gregory, De Montfort 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Leicester
Nasar Meer, Northumbria 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, Newcastle
Luke Martell, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Sussex
Lucy Mayblin, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Sheffield
Jennifer Davidson, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Strathclyde
Nicki Thorogood, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Bev Skeggs, Goldsmiths 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ London
Azar Sheibani, London Metropolitan 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Muireann N¨ª Raghallaigh, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ College Dublin
Laura Parker, Asylum Access
Yewa Holiday, Queen Mary 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ London
Les Back, Goldsmiths 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ London