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NU Sanctuary Scholarships

The scholarships have been designed to enable students from asylum-seeker and refugee backgrounds to progress to higher level study.

Visit the 2022 Academic Experience page for information about the 2022-23 academic year.

Newcastle University is proud to support equal access to higher education and is pleased to offer Sanctuary scholarships consisting of full tuition fee support and a bursary for living expenses for applicants wishing to study at the University.

The scholarships have been designed to enable students from asylum-seeker and refugee backgrounds to progress to higher level study.

About these scholarships

Value of award

Full tuition fees and living expenses 

Number of awards

3-5

Start date and duration

Commences September 2023 for the full duration of the student’s degree programme.

Application closing date

The closing date for applications was 7th April 2023 and has now passed. 

Sponsor

Newcastle University

Eligibility criteria

  1. The following categories of applicants can apply under this scheme:
    • asylum seekers
    • children of asylum seekers and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (eg children migrants under 18)*
    • applicants with refugee status (ineligible for Student Finance government funding)

      *Applicants who have been granted Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary Leave to Remain as a result of an application for asylum, or the children of a parent in this position, will also be considered.

  2. Applicants must be living in the UK at the time that they apply for consideration under the scheme. Priority will be given to applicants from the North East of England (Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Northumberland, Cleveland and North Cumbria).

  3. Applicants must have applied for a place on a Newcastle University degree programme. Priority will be given to applicants applying for their first degree.

  4. Their predicted grades must meet the entry requirements for the degree concerned.

    Applicants who hold qualifications from outside the UK are welcome to use our International Webpages. Start by Selecting your Country to find the typical Undergraduate and Postgraduate entry requirements, before you apply to Newcastle.

    Should you have any further questions about our entry requirements, please do get in touch via the below links and we will be happy to help:-

    Enquiries about Undergraduate Study

    Enquiries about Postgraduate Study

  5. Applicants must meet the English language criteria for their course or have relevant qualifications to indicate their English language competency. Find out more about English language support. 

    Personal circumstances will be taken into account if there is good reason for criterion 4 or 5 not being met.

  6. Applicants must be unable to access mainstream funding, for example from Student Finance England or a local authority grant.

These criteria have been discussed and agreed with the Asylum and Migration Justice Forum.

 

Programme of study

Sanctuary Scholarship applications will be considered from students applying to the following programmes:

The following applicants are not eligible to apply for Sanctuary Scholarship funding:

  • Study abroad and exchange students
  • Applicants for non-degree awards (Higher Education Diploma, Higher Education Certificate, Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma)

For more information about the scheme, please see the Sanctuary Scholarship Regulations (PDF: 67KB).

How to apply

The closing date for applications was 7th April 2023 and has now passed. We are unable to consider late applications.

Contact

Questions regarding the Newcastle University Sanctuary Scholarship Scheme should be sent to scholarship.applications@ncl.ac.uk.