Sanctuary Scholarships

• University of Reading Sanctuary Scholarships
• Eligibility
• The application process
• Apply for a Sanctuary Scholarship
• How are the scholarships awarded?
• Timeline
• Additional information and support

The University of Reading offers scholarships to eligible sanctuary seekers (people with refugee, humanitarian protected or asylum seeker status). These scholarships recognise the educational disruption that displaced people experience. The Sanctuary Scholarships scheme offers these awards each year, to eligible applicants:

• five fee waivers each year that cover the tuition fees for our 10-week English Language programme (starting in June each year) - £4,400 in 2023
• four bursary payments of £5,000† each year of study for new applicants to undergraduate courses* with refugee, humanitarian protection status, or have a right to remain in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme or the Ukraine Sponsorship (Homes for Ukraine) scheme
• one bursary payment of £10,000† (pro rata-ed for part-time students) for new applicants to postgraduate taught courses** with refugee, humanitarian protection status, or who have a right to remain in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme or the Ukraine Sponsorship (Homes for Ukraine) scheme
• one scholarship of a fee waiver and a bursary payment of £14,200† for each year of study for new applicants to undergraduate courses*** with asylum seeker status
• one scholarship of a fee waiver and a bursary payment of £14,200† (pro rata-ed for part-time students) for new applicants to postgraduate taught courses** with asylum seeker status.

† Bursary payments are made in termly instalments.

* Including those with an integrated foundation year or integrated master’s year, but excluding the stand-alone International Foundation Programme.

** Excluding those provided by Henley Business School from our Greenlands campus.

*** Includes all undergraduate programmes for which the individual applicant’s visa requirements do not prohibit them from completing all elements of the programme (see below for details about those with work placements/study abroad years), including those with an integrated foundation year or integrated master’s year.  Also includes the stand-alone International Foundation Programme (IFP) with September start, though any scholarship awarded for the stand-alone IFP will be for the one-year IFP only; applicants will have to re-apply for a Sanctuary Scholarship for their main programme.

For all awards, you must:

1. be granted a form of leave (leave to remain, limited leave to remain, discretionary leave to remain, humanitarian protection) as the result of an asylum application or human rights application; or be an asylum seeker; or be granted settlement in the UK through the ARAP or ACRS schemes for Afghan refugees; or have a right to remain in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme or the Ukraine Sponsorship (Homes for Ukraine) scheme
2. have applied to the University of Reading for 2023 entry and have received either a Conditional or Unconditional offer;
3. currently reside in the UK 

The different scholarships have different additional eligibility, which are explained below:

• For the Pre-sessional English programme fee waiver you must 
  • be applying for the 10 week course starting in June, 
  • have sat an academic IELTS test (or equivalent) or a test offered by the University of Reading’s International Study and Language Institute (ISLI) before you can be offered a place. 
  • Be intending to complete university-level academic study after completion of the pre-sessional English programme.

• For the bursary awards your immigration status must currently allow you to qualify for Home fees status or to access tuition Fee Loans or Maintenance Loans from Student Finance England/Wales/NI/SAAS.
• For the fee waiver and bursary award your immigration status must currently not allow you to qualify you for Home fees status or to access tuition Fee Loans or Maintenance Loans from Student Finance England/Wales/NI/SAAS.

Due to government regulations regarding asylum seekers and work placements, those with current/outstanding asylum claims may not be eligible to apply for scholarships for undergraduate programmes that have work placements or study abroad elements as they may be prohibited from completing these elements of their course.

Please note that if you are applying for a course that is considered of an equivalent level to one that you already hold, you may not be eligible for support from the student finance authorities. Please contact the relevant student finance authority if you have any questions about this.

If you intend or are required to take the pre-sessional English programme as a condition of entry, you must also intend to undertake university-level academic study starting in 2023/4 at a University after completion of the pre-sessional English programme.

The University of Reading’s International Study and Language Institute (ISLI) can run in-person language assessments for Sanctuary Seeker applicants that can be used to meet the English Language requirements of your offer to study, if you cannot meet this condition in any other way. If you would like to take an ISLI test please email refugeescholarship@reading.ac.uk and we will liaise with them over the date. Please note that these are in person tests and will take place in Reading. 

• Step 1:  Submit your academic degree programme application, as well as your Pre-sessional English application if you require it.  Submit applications via UCAS for undergraduate study, or directly on our website for postgraduate study.  
• Step 2: Apply for government student financial support, if applicable. 

We typically receive more applications than scholarships available, so we cannot guarantee that a scholarship will be awarded to you.  With this in mind, we would suggest that applicants apply for a student loan if they are eligible to do so, in case your Sanctuary Scholarship application is unsuccessful.

Further guidance on student support

Undergraduate: 

Contact the relevant office, depending on where you normally live in the UK:

• Student Finance England students can apply online
• Student Finance Wales students can apply online
• Student Finance Northern Ireland students can apply online
• Students from Scotland can find further information from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS)

Postgraduate taught:

Master’s loans: information and how to apply can be found on the government's website. 

Please note that the maximum master’s loan is £11,836 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2022.  It is paid directly to you, in three instalments, and is unlikely to cover the full tuition fees for a postgraduate taught programme.

• Step 3: Submit your Sanctuary Scholarship application, online via our website, or by completing the downloadable application form and emailing it to us.
• Step 4: Once you have completed your Sanctuary Scholarship application, send your immigration documents to refugeescholarship@reading.ac.uk
• Step 5: We will confirm eligibility on receipt of all information and documentation.
• Step 6: Winners to be announced for all scholarships at the beginning of June. 

You will need to submit a short application for all awards in this scholarship programme. You should have applied for the academic course you would like to study before you apply for the scholarship.

Pre-sessional English

The University of Reading runs a number of Academic English courses for people who need to improve their level of Academic English before starting their studies. Please note that these courses are not general English Language courses, they are for people progressing onto a degree.

If you have applied for our 10-week pre-sessional English course and we believe you are eligible for this award you must have submitted an application to the pre sessional English programme first and once you have an offer, you can apply for the scholarship by completing the scholarship application form or download a form as a word document if you don’t have reliable access to the internet. Completed forms should be returned to refugeescholarship@reading.ac.uk. Please make sure you apply before the deadline, which is 11:59pm BST on Friday 26 May 2023.

Undergraduate courses 

If you have applied for an undergraduate course, and have declared that you have refugee status on your UCAS form we will contact you inviting you to apply. If you haven’t declared your status on your UCAS form or are applying through a different route you can still apply for a scholarship if you think you are eligible, but you must have submitted an application to study at the University of Reading before you can apply for the scholarship. 

Simply fill in the scholarship application form or download a form as a word document if you don’t have reliable access to the internet. Completed forms should be returned to refugeescholarship@reading.ac.uk. Please make sure you apply before the deadline, which is 11:59pm BST on Friday 26 May 2023.

Master’s courses

If you have applied for a Master’s course and you think you are eligible for an award, you can apply for the scholarship. Simply fill in the form the scholarship application form or download a form as a word document if you don’t have reliable access to the internet. Completed forms should be returned to refugeescholarship@reading.ac.uk. Please make sure you apply before the deadline, which is 11:59pm BST on Friday 26 May 2023.

Apply for a Sanctuary scholarship

Download an application form

If you are applying using the downloadable form, either scan it and email it to refugeescholaship@reading.ac.uk or return it by post to:

Sanctuary Scholarship applications
Admissions Office
Miller Building
University of Reading
Whiteknights
Reading
RG6 6AB

Scholarship applicants will be contacted in early June 2023 with the results of their scholarship application. To be considered for a scholarship you must already hold an offer from the University of Reading. You must apply for the scholarship no later than the date stated on this web page and the application form. 

We typically receive more applications than we have scholarships available, so please be aware that the Sanctuary Scholarship awards are often over-subscribed and we cannot guarantee that a scholarship will be granted to everyone who submits an application.

When we do receive more applications than scholarships available, on the advice received by our advisory panel, winners are selected at random, with preference given to local applicants and with gender parity where possible.

Please note that for applicants who still have to meet the conditions of their offer to study, scholarship offers will be provisional until applicants have done so. 

Applicants for undergraduate and postgraduate awards need to have met all offer conditions and gone Unconditional at Reading by Wednesday 6 September 2023, in order to receive one of the Sanctuary Scholarship. Applicants whose scholarship offers were conditional, who have not met their offer conditions by this date, will have their scholarship offer rescinded, and we will reallocate that scholarship to another applicant.

Any questions?  Contact us at refugeescholarship@reading.ac.uk  

By submitting a Sanctuary Scholarship application, you agree to comply with, and be bound, by these Terms and Conditions.

University of Reading Fees and Funding pages:

• Undergraduate fees and funding
• Postgraduate fees and funding
• Student Financial Support Team

Support for Sanctuary Seekers:

• University of Reading information for Sanctuary Seekers
• Student Action for Refugees
• Reading Refugee Support Group
• Red Cross
• RefuAid 

UK wide student advice

• UKCISA – information on Government Student Support
• UKCISA – information on fee status in Higher Education