Sanctuary Scholarship

efore making an application for the Sanctuary Scholarship, please ensure that you are either: An asylum seeker or the partner/dependant of an asylum seeker; or An asylum seeker/partner/dependant who has been granted Discretionary Leave to Remain (DLR) or some other form of temporary status; or From another forced migrant background and not eligible to apply for Student Finance You must also hold a conditional or unconditional offer from the University of Salford for an undergraduate or postgraduate course scheduled to start in September of the academic year relevant to your application. Please note: You need to apply for a Salford course via UCAS or in some cases, you can apply directly with the University. You will need to apply for more than one course/university on UCAS, so please ensure that you apply for Sanctuary Scholarship universities only to increase your chances of getting a place that you can afford to take up. You must apply for both your university place and for the Scholarship by completing the online application form. Do not assume that because you have an offer for a course at Salford that you will be automatically considered for the Scholarship because you will not. For support with making an application to study at the University, please contact enquiries@salford.ac.uk. To be eligible for the Sanctuary Scholarship, you must also: Be currently attending a school, college, community or voluntary group that can provide a reference in support of your application. References from Educational institutions are preferable if possible.  Be unable to access mainstream funding, e.g. student finance or a local authority grant. Those who are classed as care leavers (Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children) and previously were under local authority care can apply, but you will need to attach a letter from your local authority detailing the support that they will offer you whilst studying.  Live within commuting distance of the University of Salford (preferably in the Greater Manchester Public Transport Executive area) or be able and willing to move to the local area to start university (in September of the academic year relevant to your application) with accommodation in the local area that you can afford. We will require evidence of this.  Demonstrate that you do not require support for living expenses or accommodation. In 2025-2026 all undergraduate courses were open for applications for the scholarship, apart from self-funding parts of degrees such as pilot studies. For the 2025-2026 academic year, we also accepted applications for postgraduate scholarships.

Sanctuary Scholarship applications for the 2026-2027 academic year will open in January 2026. When applying for the 2026-27 academic year, you must also give your application to your supporting referee and ask them to complete a supporting statement. If you cannot upload your supporting statement to the form, please contact the Specialist Support Team at specialistsupport@salford.ac.uk  as you may be able to send it via post or email instead. All application forms must be signed by the Principal of the school or college or a Senior Manager of the voluntary or community group supporting the student’s application.

Accepts transfer credit.