Sanctuary Scholarship (Masters) (2025)

What you get

• Full 'Overseas' tuition fee waiver 
• £16,440 living costs
• Sussexsport membership

Type of award

Full tuition fee waiver and living costs

Funding type

Sussex funded

Eligibility

This scholarship is offered to forced migrants or applicants granted a temporary form of leave only, to provide financial assistance in order to enable them to take up a place on a Masters degree at the University of Sussex. Therefore applicants will be required to provide evidence of this in order to apply.

• Who is eligible

  To be eligible for this scholarship, you must have received an offer of a place to study a Masters degree at the University of Sussex. starting in September 2025. You must also:

  • Have submitted, or are the dependent of someone who has submitted, an application to the UK Home Office for recognition as a Refugee; or
  • Have been granted temporary form of leave to remain in the UK as a result of an asylum application (e.g. limited leave to remain, humanitarian protection) and not be eligible for funding from Student Finance England; or
  • Be a partner/child of an asylum seeker or an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child; and
  • Have a household income of under £25,000; and
  • Be unable to access UK government student financial support because of your current immigration status
• Who isn’t eligible

  You are not eligible for this scholarship if you:

  • Are not currently residing in the UK
  • Have applied for, or received, recognition as Refugee (or other forms of temporary leave as the result of an application for Asylum) in a country which is not the UK
  • Are applying for a Masters at a university that is not at the University of Sussex
  • Are progressing into the final year of an integrated Masters at Sussex
  • Are studying an online course
  • Are studying one of the Excluded courses listed below.
• Excluded courses

  You are not eligible for this scholarship if you are going to study any of the following:

  • Certificates and Diplomas (including PGCE)
  • Courses at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS)
  • Courses at IDS
  • Early Years Education (with Early Years Teacher status)
  • Degrees in Social work (if receiving an NHS bursary)
  • Online courses
  • Schools direct teaching courses
  • Masters funded by the research councils (e.g. ESRC 1+3 funding)
  • Courses offered at partner institutes e.g. International Study Centre (ISC)

Number of scholarships available

Three scholarships available across Undergraduate and Masters study

Deadline

How to apply

In order to be considered for the scholarship, you will need to have accepted an offer of a place on an eligible Masters course.

I sincerely thank the University and the Sussex alumni community for supporting and recognising me in this way. My Article 26 Scholarship was the light at the end of a very dark tunnel” Adarsh Ramdawor
LLM International Commercial Law

Contact us

If you have any questions about your eligibility for this scholarship or need any further information, please email scholarships@sussex.ac.uk.

Information and support for forced migrants/refugee students can be found on our University of Sanctuary page.

You might also be interested in

• How to apply for a Masters at Sussex
• Student Action for Refugees (STAR)
• Miran's story

Timetable

All applicants will receive a final decision before July 2025.

Terms and conditions

We are aware AI has been used by some applicants to produce statements for their scholarship applications. Please be advised these applications are often unsuccessful. Any personal statement submitted needs to be written by you, to demonstrate your suitability for the scholarship.

Eligible applicants who are not successful in their applications for the Sanctuary Scholarship (2025) will be offered the Sanctuary Award (2025) for their studies. This Award will reduce an applicant's tuition fees to the equivalent of the 'Home' rate for their course; this does not mean that they will be assessed as 'Home' for fees.