Article 26 Sanctuary Scholarships

For 2025/26 entry we will be offering the following Article 26 Sanctuary Scholarships:

• 2 scholarships for eligible applicants wishing to study an undergraduate degree programme.
• 1 scholarship for eligible applicants wishing to study a postgraduate taught Masters degree programme (part-time or full-time).

Successful applicants for the Article 26 Sanctuary Scholarship at Keele University will be provided with:

• Full tuition fee costs for up to a maximum of four years.
• A cash award of £1200 each year towards living costs.
• £250 towards course costs loaded on the students Keele Card in each year of study.
• Personal Support: Support will also be developed for each successful student to enable them to identify and overcome barriers to achievement on their degree programme.

Applications will be considered from students applying for the following courses:

• Full time undergraduate degree and foundation programmes (up to a maximum of four years)
• Full time or part time postgraduate taught Master’s programmes (applicants must be studying a minimum of a Master’s qualifications; modular courses and the Postgraduate Certificate/Postgraduate Diploma are not eligible).

Applicants must fall into one of the following immigration status groups and be unable to access UK government funding because of their current immigration status:

• An asylum seeker – a person who has made a claim with the UK for refugee status
• A person who has been granted some form of temporary status, such as Limited Leave to remain, in the UK
• Dependents or partners of any of the above status groups, whose claim is dependent on a principal applicant.

Applicants must be able to provide evidence of their status, under one of the above categories.

Please note, some students with temporary status may be eligible for funding under the Long Residence category. For useful information regarding eligibility under this category, please visit the UKCISA website 

Priority will be given to applicants who live within easy commuting distance of Keele University.

In addition to completing the online Article 26 Scholarship application form, applicants must also ensure that they have applied to a course at the University through our Admissions department. You can contact our Admissions department using the email address below: admissions@keele.ac.uk

Applicants will need to read the guidance notes fully and complete an online application form. The Article 26 Scholarship application form will ask you questions about your individual circumstances, and you will be asked to provide a supporting statement to tell us more about your financial circumstances. You will also need to provide supporting evidence - we will contact you by email to discuss this with you.

All applicants will require a referee to provide a supporting statement for their application. This could be a school or college lecturer, support worker or community or voluntary group leader. All applicants will also need to provide supporting evidence of their circumstances by the application deadline.

Please see the link for the online application form at the top of this page. 

Applicants are reminded that this is a competitive process and not all applications for the Scholarships will be successful. 

Stage 1  - Once the closing date for applications has passed, following an initial assessment, the University will contact applicants to let them know whether or not their application will progress to the next stage of the selection process. 

Stage 2  - Applicants who are shortlisted will be invited to an interview during Summer 2025 to verify the information they have provided on their application and to give them an opportunity to get to know the University. Applicants will be asked to sign a document providing permission for the University to share information with the UK Home Office in order to verify eligibility for the scholarship and status in the UK. Interviews will be held as soon as possible after the closing date. 

Stage 3 - Successful applicants will be sent an offer of an Article 26 Sanctuary Scholarship within two weeks of the interview. For more information about how we assess applications please see the Selecting Sanctuary Scholars document. 

We will consider applications from all students on a case-by-case basis, and your eligibility for the scholarship will depend on a number of factors. This is a competitive scholarship with limited places, and so we understand that some applicants may be disappointed by the outcome of their application.

For the avoidance of doubt, all offers of an Article 26 Sanctuary Scholarship are conditional of applicants receiving an Unconditional offer from the University and subject to satisfactorily meeting the right to study check undertaken by the University’s Immigration Compliance Team.

Successful applicants will only be entitled to the awards associated with the Article 26 Sanctuary Scholarship once they have fully enrolled with the University. Scheduled payments will be made to the student, provided they remain enrolled on their chosen course.

If they have not already done so, students should apply to open a UK bank account in order to receive payments of the additional financial support. 

Payments will normally be paid monthly, unless students would benefit from a different payment schedule which can be discussed with the University.

Payments to Keele Cards will be loaded onto the students Keele Card during Semester 1. 

Students will receive a confirmation email at the beginning of Semester 1 to confirm payment dates.

We work in a methodical and systematic way to ensure that we allocate places on the Article 26 Scholarship fairly. If you feel we have not assessed your application fairly, please contact our Financial Support Team.