Sanctuary Scholarship

Scholarship applications for 2026-27 are now closed.

This information is for guidance only.

4  Sanctuary Scholarships are available for students from forced migration backgrounds.

To get this scholarship you must:

• have an offer to study at the University of Southampton
• be an asylum seeker or included as a dependent (e.g. a child or spouse of the applicant) awaiting a decision on your asylum claim or be in the appeals process
• have received a decision on your asylum claim but been given a new visa status that does not allow access to UK government financial support  like tuition fee or maintenance loans or give you a UK (or 'Home') Fee Status.

If you're not sure if you can apply or not, or what other support you may be able to apply for, contact our Sanctuary Officer, Claire Giles.

Spouses or civil partners must have been the spouse or civil partner on the date on which the asylum application to the UK government was made. Children and step-children must have been aged under 18 on the date on which the asylum application to the UK government was made.

Immigration statuses we accept

If you have been given one of these status', you can apply for this scholarship.

• Asylum seekers
• Limited Leave to Remain (LLR)
• Discretionary Leave to Remain (DLR)
• Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Child (UASC)

If you are an asylum seeker you should provide your Application Registration Card (ARC) card as evidence.

If you have LLR, DLR or UASC status, you should provide your eVisa share code or other documentation as evidence. In some circumstances you might be eligible for Student Finance and therefore not eligible for the Sanctuary Scholarship.

Immigration statuses we do not accept

If you have one of these status' you cannot apply for this scholarship. You might however be eligible for student finance. For more information on what funding support you can apply for, check our fees and funding pages.

• Calais Leave
• Stateless Leave
• 67 Leave
• Humanitarian Protection
• Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP)
• Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS)
• Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)

Permanent residency

We consider your permanent residency to be where you have lived for 3 or more years before the start of the course.

This does not include where you have been living solely for study purposes if it is different from your permanent place of residency.

There are 9 stages in the shortlisting process.   

1. The Sanctuary Officer will process the forms and may contact applicants should further information be required.
2. The panel meet to go through completed applications after the submission deadlines for undergraduates and postgraduate.
3. The panel selects the applicants they wish to offer the scholarship to.
4. The Sanctuary Officer contacts successful applicants to offer them a conditional scholarship offer. This condition is based on being able to successfully enrol onto one of our university programmes and completing a Right to Study Check.
5. You then accept or decline the scholarship offer. If you decline, the panel will go back to the unsuccessful applicants to ask if they are still interested and eligible.
6. In August you must confirm if you have met the requirements of your programme after results day.
7. You must confirm whether accommodation is needed with the Sanctuary Officer and apply if needed.
8. Once confirmed and you have applied for accommodation you must complete a Right to Study check.
9. The University will check your eligibility again in early September. Do not move to Southampton until you have had confirmation.

This is a competitive process, and not all applications will be successful.

The scholarship panel's decision is final. We do not provide feedback on applications or decisions.

If your application is successful, you will receive a confirmation email and award letter.