Sanctuary Scholarships

Sanctuary Scholarships

People arriving into the UK seeking refuge from threats to their lives face many challenges, but they also have the opportunity to build a new life and a hopeful future for themselves and their families.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency statistics, at the end of 2020 there were 132,349 refugees, 77,245 pending asylum cases and 4,662 stateless persons in the UK.

When a person has both the ambition and the chance to succeed, impossible dreams can become a reality. The Open University (OU) believes education should be open to everyone.
 

Our solution

Many people seeking sanctuary are successful and highly qualified professionals in their country of origin but need recognised qualifications to continue their careers in the UK. For others, the security of arriving in the UK after fleeing armed conflict or persecution in their home nation, often means they have their very first opportunity to engage with higher education and/or have access to meaningful employment.

The opportunity to access higher education enables individuals to pursue their passions and provides a sense of purpose, identity, and achievement. It enables people seeking sanctuary to invest in their futures and make substantial contributions to the society in which they make their new homes.

Sanctuary Scholarships are the latest initiative developed from our passionate advocacy for lifelong learning and our belief that accessible education is a powerful tool for social mobility, improving people’s lives, and building better communities. 
 

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for either a scholarship or Access Module Fee Waiver, students need to meet all of the following criteria:

• Be a forced migrant to the United Kingdom (a person displaced from their homeland or place of residence for political, economic, ethnic, environmental, or human rights pressures) and unable to access Student Finance by being either:
  • an Asylum Seeker or
  • a person resident in England and granted limited leave to enter or remain due to an application for asylum or an application made on Human Rights grounds. (This category doesn’t apply to applicants ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Wales).
• Be ordinarily resident in the UK.
• Hold no existing UK higher education qualification(s).
• Be a new student to The Open University in academic year 2024/25.
• Be intending to study an undergraduate OU module commencing in the 2024/25 academic year (between 1 September 2024 and 31 August 2025).
• Be intending to study at a minimum intensity of 25% (30 credits) per academic year.

Full terms and conditions are available in the scholarship terms and conditions.
 

Progress

We have already awarded 24 full fee waiver scholarships, and we will provide 12 more in Autumn 2024. For the second cohort we ring-fenced three places for students who took an Access module in cohort 1. Alongside this commitment, we are also offering 10 fully funded Access modules which start in October 2024 with the aim of preparing successful applicants with the skills and confidence to progress into Higher Education.  
 

The scholarship will provide me an opportunity to finish my studies which were interrupted by the war. Completing a degree will open many job opportunities for me, and simply guarantee a more stable future of living in the UK.

Andriy
OU Student and Sanctuary Scholarship recipient

How to support

Through joining our family of supporters you can help make it possible for us to continue to offer this life changing opportunity to students. 
 

Get in touch

For more information please contact:

Tracy Grunwell

Philanthropy Manager
01908 653694
tracy.grunwell@open.ac.uk

The Open University has numerous support programs addressing a wide variety of limitations or disadvantages that prospective students might face. For example, we offer financial support for carers, care-experienced learners, Black students and disabled veterans and those who are seeking sanctuary in the UK. We also offer the study-related costs fund, which is open to anyone on a low income. Information on all our bursaries, scholarships and assistance schemes can be found here: http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/fees-and-funding