SIRIUS Network Policy Brief Series While many European countries have well-established education systems, socioeconomically disadvantaged communities experience inequality of access and a lower quality of education across the continent. These groups tend to underperform at school, and children with a migrant background are disproportionately represented among the underperformers. In addition, children of a migrant background have a number of critical educational needs that mainstream education policies do not currently meet. In light of these facts, this policy brief outlines the urgent needs of children and youth in Europe and discusses how education systems could adapt in order to respond to these needs. The performance of education policies could be very crucial in determining whether the goals of the European Commission’s Education and Training Strategy (ET2020) are achieved.