Freedom Degree | Sanctuary Scholarship

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Sanctuary Scholarship

Supports students at risk

The University of Birmingham is pleased to be able to offer five Sanctuary Scholarships for new undergraduate and postgraduate taught students starting at the University in 2025 who have sought refuge in the UK. We are committed to providing a welcoming environment for Asylum Seekers and we are passionate about being a University of Sanctuary.

Overview

University of Birmingham

Birmingham, West Midlands , United Kingdom

Full-time

English

Engineering - Mechanical & Aeronautical, Accounting & Finance, Business & Management Studies, Engineering - Chemical, Engineering - Civil & Structural, Classics & Ancient History, Computer Science, Education, Economics & Econometrics, Engineering - Electrical & Electronic, Linguistics, English Language & Literature, Engineering - General, Urban Planning, History & Archaeology, Art & Design, Engineering – Materials, Medicine Related Studies, Philosophy, Modern Languages & Literatures, Politics, International Relations/Studies/Affairs, Psychology, Criminology, Sociology, Public Policy, Social Work, Sports-related Subjects, Theology, Divinity & Religious Studies

Detailed Information

Admission

After you’ve completed the online application form, Funding, Graduation and Awards will check your application and contact you if we need any further information. Your application will then be reviewed by the University’s International Student Team (IST) to check that you meet the eligibility criteria for an award. The University will need to contact the Home Office on your behalf, so it’s important that you complete the authorisation form as part of your scholarship application. If your application is taken forward, it will be shared with the University’s Sanctuary Scholarship panel, who will identify the applicants that we would like to invite for an interview. For those who make it to this stage, the interviews will take place either at our Edgbaston campus or online (interview dates TBC). Successful candidates will be identified at the interviews and notified of the outcome by the beginning of June. All awards are made at the discretion of the panel and there is no appeal against a decision not to award a scholarship. If necessary, the successful candidates will then be invited to an English Language testing day, hosted by the Birmingham International Academy (BIA) in either June or July. The testing will help those who have

Qualifications

The Sanctuary Scholarships have been established to help prospective students who have sought refuge in the UK and are unable to access student loans or other sources of statutory funding available in the UK, due to their residency status. To be considered for a Sanctuary Scholarship you must be able to demonstrate that you meet the following conditions at the point your application for the Scholarship is made: You must be in the UK and; You must be unable to access mainstream UK student funding due to your residency status at the point your application for the Scholarship is made and; You must have submitted, or be a dependant* of someone who has submitted, an asylum application in the UK OR you need to have already been granted discretionary leave, at the point your application for the Scholarship is made and; *To be classed as a dependent, spouses/civil partners must have been the spouse/civil partner on the date which the asylum application was made. Children/step-children must have been aged under 18 on the date on which the asylum application was made. You must have made an application** to study at the University of Birmingham for a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate taught course beginning in September 2025. **Please note that an application for the scholarship is not an application to study at the university. A separate application for admission to the University of Birmingham needs to be made before you make an application for the Sanctuary Scholarship. If your application to study is rejected, we will be unable to consider your application for the Scholarship. If your status changes after you have made an application for the Sanctuary Scholarship, at any point prior to or during your studies, it’s really important that you get in touch with us to discuss the issue as quickly as possible by emailing us at sanctuaryawards@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

Procedure

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/scholarships-funding/sanctuary-scholarship

Academic Transfer

Accepts transfer credit.