Completion of upper secondary school among unaccompanied refugee minors and the association with child welfare measures

This study aimed to examine school completion among unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) compared with accompanied refugee minors (ARMs) and youth from the general population, and to identify predictors of school completion among URMs in Norway. Data are derived from national registries and include 4845 URMs (83.7% male) who arrived in Norway between 2005 and 2021, 5942 ARMs, and 16,401 youth from the general population in the same age groups. Bivariate logistic regression models were used to compare upper secondary school completion between URMs, ARMs, and youth from the general population and to examine potential predictors of school completion, including sex, study tracks, time from arrival to first starting upper secondary school, country of origin, measures from child welfare services, aftercare, living situation, and centrality of municipality of settlement among URMs. Findings show that fewer URMs completed upper secondary school than ARMs and youth from the general population. Among the URMs, females had higher odds ratios of completing upper secondary school. The odds ratios of completion were generally higher in general tracks compared to vocational tracks. Additionally, receiving child welfare measures and living in foster care were associated with higher odds ratios of school completion. Our findings underscore the need for further research to identify effective strategies to support URMs in completing their education.