SOAS Sanctuary Scholarships 2026/27

Any full-time (3-year) undergraduate degree programmes beginning in September 2026/27. 

This scholarship does not cover funding for pre-sessional courses.

Applicants must be a displaced person that falls into one of the following groups: 

• Asylum Seeker or you have submitted a claim for asylum in the UK or are actively appealing a negative decision on claim for asylum in the UK.
• Discretionary or Limited Leave to Remain.
• Humanitarian Protection status or the spouse or child of someone with Humanitarian Protection status.
• Refugee status or you are the spouse or child of someone with refugee status.
• The dependant of any of the above status groups, in recognition that they are also from asylum-seeking or refugee backgrounds. 

Alternatively, applicants must have come to the UK under one of the following:

• UK Refugee Resettlement Scheme (UKRS)
• Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme
• Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP)
• Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) and Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS)
• Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine)
• Ukraine Family Scheme 

Applicants must also:

• Be resident in the UK.
• Be assigned Home Fee status.
• Have received an offer of study for a 3-year undergraduate course beginning in September 2025. You will still have to meet the conditions of your offer of a place to be accepted onto the degree programme and receive the scholarship.
• Not have already studied at an equivalent or higher level.
• Provide evidence of their immigration status to scholarships@soas.ac.uk by the end of the scholarship application deadline. Applicants should also provide evidence that they have had their Student Finance loan application rejected if this is the case.  

Step 1 

Apply for your programme via UCAS. For more information on how to apply, please see the How to apply for undergraduate study page. 

Having an offer of study is necessary to be considered by the Sanctuary Scholarship selection panel, although you may submit a scholarship application before you receive your offer of a place.  

Step 2

Apply for the scholarship by 12 noon UK local time on 3 July 2026. You must apply for this scholarship via the admissions portal and will need to have applied for a course to get login credentials for this. 

Candidates will be assessed based on the information provided in your scholarship application and in your online application for admission by a selection panel of at least three members.

The selection panel will consider the information you have provided in your admissions application:

• your rationale for choosing the degree you wish to study at SOAS
• your learning trajectory including academic achievements and obstacles you have overcome
• how well the degree will serve your future plans and intentions
• your supporting references

In addition, we will consider the information you provide in your scholarship application about your immigration situation and why you are applying for this scholarship. It is important that you provide clear information about this and any supporting documents, so that we can understand your situation. You should email any relevant documents to scholarships@soas.ac.uk.

You must submit a complete application of your programme as soon as possible and then submit an application for this scholarship in order to be considered. Please note that complete applications for admissions can take up to 4 weeks to be considered by the department, although this duration can vary depending on the time of the year. You should be prepared to wait up to 6 weeks in busy periods. 

You will need to have an offer for your programme by the time the Scholarship Panel meets. We will not consider late or incomplete applications.

The scholarship shortlisting and awarding period is expected to be completed by the end of July at the earliest. Successful candidates will be contacted first, and once all awards have been allocated, unsuccessful candidates will be notified.

For enquiries regarding your programme application procedure please email undergradadmissions@soas.ac.uk.

For any enquiries regarding the scholarship application procedure, please email scholarships@soas.ac.uk.