Cambridge supports NGO Alsama to develop school-leaver exam for refugees
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Cambridge supports NGO Alsama to develop school-leaver exam for refugees
This World Refugee Day, Cambridge University Press & Assessment and NGO Alsama announce their collaboration to strengthen Alsama’s new qualification for refugee youth.
Based in Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon, Alsama educates teenagers left out of formal schooling. Alsama (registered in UK, US, and Lebanon) has developed an innovative curriculum and approach which equips young displaced people in challenging circumstances with essential foundational skills and more. Alsama’s work includes a strong focus on empowering girls, eradicating child marriage and advocating for equal education and work opportunities.
Over 85% of the ~900 children who have joined Alsama centres were previously illiterate and innumerate. By the end of their six years at the centres, teenagers achieve 12 years of traditional schooling - not only in Arabic, English, Science, and Maths, but also more advanced academic and social capabilities.
Alsama means ‘the sky’ in Arabic, and the organisation is committed to helping students achieve their dreams. Progressing from the centres into higher education and work is at the heart of these goals.
However, refugees currently face significant barriers to entering university and work. UNHCR reports just 7% of refugees have access to higher education – this is far below the global average of 42%. Today, over 4 million displaced youth (aged 17-23) are not in higher education. Alsama estimates that at least half a million are excluded because they simply do not have the qualifications or diplomas they need for entry.
To address this challenge, Alsama developed the ‘G12++’ qualification. They designed the exam as an alternative to secondary school exit exams in formal schooling, like GCSEs and A Levels in the UK. A primary goal of the G12++ qualification is to demonstrate refugee learners’ skills to university admissions committees. The exam seeks to embrace international standards while being highly relevant to a learner’s refugee context and learning experience. Alsama engages refugees themselves in the qualification’s development and delivery.
The G12++ exam is currently in the prototype stage. Over the next few months, Cambridge will work with Alsama to review this prototype and make recommendations to strengthen the qualification to meet needs of refugee learners and universities seeking to admit them. Cambridge will look at the processes for writing the tests and compare these with international practices. They will make recommendations for refining the qualification procedures that reflect best practice while being relevant to the refugee context. They will offer feedback on the content of each subject in the exams: Arabic, English, Life Success, Mathematics and Life Success Skills. Cambridge will also provide consultancy to Alsama on exam operations, piloting, setting and maintaining standards and recognition and admissions processes. This draws on Cambridge’s experience delivering assessments to more than 8 million learners in more than 170 countries.
Following this review, Alsama will beta-test the prototype with 150 students. They aim to deliver the first live exams to refugee youth in 2026. Alsama’s vision is for the G12++ to reach 50,000+ displaced young people every year, supporting displaced youth in emergency contexts around the world.
Jane Mann, Managing Director, Partnership for Education, Cambridge says: “Qualifications can be the key to continuing a child’s learning journey. They open doors to higher education and work – important not only for displaced young people but also for our societies to embrace their wealth of talent.”
“Qualifications provide recognition of a young person’s efforts and inspire wider family support for education. In the case of Alsama, the teenagers in their schools demonstrate phenomenal commitment and passion. To play a part in recognising their achievements with a highly contextually relevant qualification that empowers them to unlock their potential is a privilege.”
Alsama adds: “We aim to transform access to higher education to be more inclusive, rather than exclusive, for talented displaced youth around the world.”
Education in Emergencies
This work leverages Cambridge’s holistic understanding of education systems and extensive experience globally and applies it to the refugee and displaced learner context. In line with its mission and commitment to the UN sustainable development goals, Cambridge continues to deepen connections with partners driving transformational change in education for children in emergency contexts across the globe. This includes working with UNICEF and the Rohingya communities in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and proposing a new model for bridging short- and long-term development in Ukraine.
This collaboration spans the University of Cambridge. Today, Steve King, Head of Education Reform, will be joining the University’s Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement and Cambridge Refugee Hub to share perspectives from work in Bangladesh as part of a panel on mental health and education initiatives for Global Refugee Week.
