Ukrainian refugee leaves UK sixth-form college that urged her ‘to study Russian’ | Ukraine
A Ukrainian refugee was forced to leave his sixth-form university after he said he was pressured to learn Russian.
Kateryna Endeberia moved to Stoke-on-Trent after fleeing Ukraine in 2022 following the start of Russia’s invasion.
He took his GCSEs at The Excel Academy in 2023, before completing his foundation year at City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College (SFC) and then studying economics, politics and statistics for a year.
However, the 19-year-old said that when he had difficulties in his classes, his teachers tried to persuade him to learn Russian.
He felt that this would be a traumatic experience as his father was a Ukrainian soldier and that the request was “hurtful and insensitive” and akin to “discrimination and racism”.
Endeberia has since left SFC and instead studies at home using notes shared by her friends. He applied to sit A-level exams as a private candidate in 2026, at a cost of £1,400.
He told the Guardian that studying Russian was “against my personal principles because I am a natural [in Donetsk] Where the war started in 2014. “It’s not a language I want to speak or learn because my father was a soldier last year.”
She added: “I’m really grateful for the opportunity to study in the UK; it feels like my third home.” [after Ukraine and the Czech Republic, where she initially moved]. “But after everything our country has been through, not everyone understands how difficult it can be for Ukrainian students to adapt to a new education system, culture and language.”
Endeberia said she struggled with her A-level studies and felt bullied because of her accent. He claims the university did not provide him with extra support, instead trying to persuade him to study Russian at A-level.
“Instead of empathizing or helping, they kept insisting that I change the subject. No one tried to understand how painful this experience was for me,” she said.
He said he was struggling to get “clear answers” about why he was being prevented from dealing with politics, economics and statistics and was running a complaints process through the Potteries Educational Trust, which oversees the SFC. Once this is completed it plans to refer the case to Ofsted.
A spokesperson for Stoke-on-Trent City Sixth Form College said: “The College cares deeply about our students and every effort is made to resolve issues and complaints in accordance with our complaints and resolution process. We do not comment on individuals for privacy reasons.”
Ukraine has previously lobbied the UK government to give young refugees the chance to study GCSEs in Ukrainian; However, there are reports that many people are being pressured to study Russian instead, as they already speak some of the language.
Ukrainian education minister Oksen Lisovyi met with UK education minister Bridget Phillipson in December 2024 to warn that teaching Russian could re-traumatise some 27,000 displaced Ukrainian children in the UK who have fled Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
Children’s commissioner Rachel de Souza also called on the government to reintroduce GCSE in Ukrainian.
AQA said it was considering developing a GCSE in Ukrainian but it is understood this could take several years.
