Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has spent his career breaking barriers on the track. Off the track, he has used his platform to push for a different kind of access: refugee education. In 2022, Hamilton backed a UNHCR campaign calling for refugee children and youth to be fully included in national education systems rather than being left on the margins. Hamilton said he was proud to lend his voice to the campaign and argued that education can help unlock people’s potential and address systemic injustice. In the same UNHCR release, High Commissioner Filippo Grandi described supporting refugee education as an investment in people who may one day rebuild their countries when they can safely return home.

A Widening Gap at Every Level

At the time of Hamilton’s statement, refugee children enrolled in primary school at a rate of 68%, but that number dropped sharply for higher levels of education. Only 37% reached secondary school, and just 6% continued on to university, according to UNHCR’s 2022 Refugee Education Report. Hamilton highlighted this gap directly, framing continued exclusion from higher education as a loss of talent the world could not afford.

The consequences of that education gap reach far beyond the classroom. In countries where comparable data are available, refugees have been found to experience higher poverty rates than host-country nationals. UNHCR research also shows that expanding refugees’ access to work and freedom of movement can reduce poverty and support economic inclusion.

Education can support that economic inclusion by improving skills and access to recognized qualifications. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi wrote in the foreword to a previous UNHCR education report that failing to close the education gap would also set back progress on employment, equality and poverty eradication, not just school enrollment.

Progress in the Years Since

UNHCR’s newest data shows measurable progress in refugee education. Tertiary enrollment among refugees rose to 9% in 2025, the largest single-year jump on record and nearly triple the enrollment rate from just a few years earlier. Every region tracked in the report recorded gains in higher education access, with Europe showing the largest increase. UNHCR points to advocacy, expanded higher-education pathways, digital learning and programs such as the DAFI scholarship program as part of the progress. The gains reflect the same goal Hamilton championed in 2022: refugee students having a genuine path beyond secondary school rather than stopping short of it.

Funding Cuts Threaten the Gains

Despite the progress, the report carries a warning that echoes the wider case Hamilton supported in 2022. An estimated 12.4 million school-aged refugee children exist worldwide, and nearly half, about 5.7 million, remain out of school entirely. Grandi said that while enrollment efforts have been tremendous, cuts to humanitarian and development aid now put those hard-won gains at risk. UNHCR’s 2022 campaign also stressed that inclusion in national education systems requires substantial and sustained financing.

A Goal Still Within Reach

UNHCR has set a target of reaching 15% tertiary enrollment for refugees by 2030. Current progress suggests the goal remains possible, but continued funding will matter. UNHCR highlights scholarships, digital higher education, vocational pathways and broader inclusion in national education systems as ways of expanding access. Continued investment in refugee education is therefore central to sustaining the gains already achieved.

Hamilton used his platform to argue that refugee children and young people deserve access to education and opportunity. The data since 2022 show real progress, while UNHCR’s latest warnings make clear that those gains remain vulnerable to funding cuts. Whether investment continues will help determine whether the momentum holds.

– Naveeshaa Rengasamy

Naveeshaa is based in Lille, France and focuses on Celebs for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons