University of Kent

Article 26 of the Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.”

In line with the UN Declaration, the University of Kent believes that everyone has the right to higher education. We are working to ensure that asylum seekers and students from a forced migration background are able to access Higher Education.  

Sanctuary Scholarships

The University of Kent, in partnership with the Article 26 Project offers each year up to five Sanctuary Scholarships for undergraduate entry. These awards are aimed at helping those seeking asylum in the UK to progress to higher education. The benefits of the Sanctuary Scholarship award are:

• Each recipient’s tuition fees will be waived for the duration of their programme of study or until they are able to access Student Finance England funding at the University of Kent (undergraduate programmes only).

• The recipients will be eligible to receive financial support from the University of Kent to cover the cost of travel (to the University or for group support), books, equipment, etc. This is a bursary payment of £2000 at the start of the academic year.

• The Students will be allocated an Adviser from Student Services to support them during their studies and to help access any support services and this will be a chance to check in and get extra support when or if it is needed.

Deadline: Sunday 4 May 2025.

Criteria

To meet the eligibility criteria of the Award, applicants must:

• Be an asylum seeker or the partner/dependent of an asylum seeker.

• Have a conditional or unconditional offer of undergraduate study from the University of Kent, having applied through UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service).

• Be currently attending a school, college, community or voluntary group which can provide a reference in support of their application.

• Not have access to mainstream funding, e.g. student finance or a local authority grant.

• Live within commuting distance of the University of Kent (i.e. within the county of Kent).

• Be able to cover their own living expenses and accommodation costs.

Unfortunately the following courses are not currently available on the Sanctuary Scholarship at Kent: Courses dependent on NHS funding, Dentistry, Foundation degree programmes, Medicine and Pharmacy.