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Sanctuary Scholarship

If you are an asylum seeker living in the UK, you may be eligible for a scholarship to pay for your taught postgraduate fees and a bursary worth £18,622.

About the Sanctuary Scholarship

Find out about the Sanctuary Scholarship and how it can pay for your studies and other costs.


For the 2024/25 academic year, the University of Bath will offer one Scholarship:

  • the Appleton Sanctuary Scholarship

Scholarships are for taught postgraduate master’s students who are seeking asylum in the UK, and who are not eligible to receive postgraduate financial support from Student Finance.

The Sanctuary Scholarship will consist of:

  • a fee waiver covering the full cost of tuition fees
  • a bursary up to £18,622

The bursary is designed to help with course-related and living costs, and not with wider costs, for example, legal fees.


Eligibility criteria

Find out if you are eligible to receive the Sanctuary Scholarship.


Immigration status

You can apply for a Sanctuary Scholarship if you hold one of the following eligible immigration statuses before submitting your application to study at Bath. This is either in your own right or as a dependent of someone with this status:

  • UK asylum seeker
  • UK discretionary leave to remain (as a result of an asylum application)
  • UK limited leave to remain (as a result of an asylum application)

You must also be:

  • a new taught postgraduate student starting studies in 2024
  • resident in the UK

You are not eligible if:

You may be eligible to apply for and receive UK taught postgraduate student loans even if you have these immigration statuses. For information and guidance visit the UKCISA advice pages. If you have already been granted Refugee Status or Humanitarian Protection Status, you can apply for financial support from Student Finance England.

Eligible programmes of study

To be eligible for the scholarship, you must have applied to study a full-time or part-time course with the degree outcome of:

  • MSc
  • MA
  • MBA
  • stand-alone MRes

This includes programmes with a combined Pre-sessional English course.

Please note that these conditions can only be met for courses completed in a maximum duration of two years for full-time programmes or four years for part-time programmes. Part-time programmes must be studied at a minimum of 50% intensity (for example, a programme which would take one year if studied full-time can take up to two years if studied part-time). Distance Learning programmes are also not eligible for this scheme.

If your course has a compulsory placement please check your immigration conditions in case of restrictions. Contact the PGT Admissions team for advice about course requirements or the Student Immigration Service about immigration restrictions.

Applying for the Sanctuary Scholarship

Find out how to apply

Contact us

Please get in touch if you have any questions about the Sanctuary Scholarship.