Article 26 Sanctuary Scholarship

What it gives

full tuition waiver · living costs

up to £1,200

£1,200 annual living-cost bursary plus £250/year for course costs (loaded on Keele card); page states scheme "is unable to provide full maintenance support"

Who it is for

asylum seeker (claim pending) · limited or discretionary leave · dependant of a person with status

Level of study: foundation year, undergraduate, taught postgraduate

The student finance condition

Only if you cannot access student finance

This scheme is for people without access to government student finance — usually asylum seekers and some limited-leave categories. If you have refugee status and can access student finance, this is normally not for you.

How to apply

You need a place first: apply to the programme and wait for an offer. Scholarship applications are only considered from people who already hold one.

Apply for a course through Keele Admissions (must go on to receive an Unconditional offer)
Complete the online Article 26 application form answering questions about your circumstances
Submit a supporting statement on your financial circumstances plus supporting evidence by the application deadline
Arrange a referee statement from a school/college lecturer, support worker, or community/voluntary group leader
Sign the form permitting the university to share your information with the Home Office to verify eligibility
If shortlisted, attend an interview in Summer; successful applicants are sent an offer within two weeks of interview

What to prepare

Supporting statement of financial circumstances
Supporting evidence of circumstances
Referee statement
Signed Home Office information-sharing consent

How they select

application form · personal statement · references · interview · evidence of circumstances

There is an interview here. It is a conversation about your situation and your study plans, not a subject exam: nobody tests the school syllabus or tries to catch you out. You can answer calmly, in your own words.

Dates

Can you apply now · as of 6 September 2026

Dates not published — ask the university

The provider's page gives no date. Write to them — it is the first question in the list below.

Where the date comes from: “next application window not yet published»

Deadline

Applications closed for the 2026/27 academic year

When applications open

Closed for 2026/27; interviews normally held in Summer; next application window not yet published

How many places

up to 3 (2 undergraduate, 1 postgraduate

For how many years

Renewed for the following years of the course, as long as you keep studying.

Ask before you apply

We do not fill in the gaps for the institution. Here is what its own page leaves unclear — these are normal questions, everyone asks them.

What happens to the payments if I am granted refugee status mid-year?

Who to write to: admissions@keele.ac.uk

If this scheme is not for you

See the full list of schemes — it has a filter for your status and for whether student finance is available to you.
Check whether you are entitled to student finance — if it is, a scholarship stops being the only road.
Foundation year and Access to HE — routes for people who only have a school certificate.
Education hub — where to start if you have not chosen a route yet.

About the institution

Keele University, Staffordshire (ST5 5BG) — single main campus.

There are adults, but they are a minority. 19.6% of students are over 30 and 29% are over 25 — an average picture for a UK university.

In detail about Keele University: all schemes, student ages, study modes →

Source

Every fact on this page we opened and read on the institution's own site, rather than taking it from an aggregator. Checked on: 22 August 2026.

The scheme page on the institution's site →

Fee waiver runs up to 4 years.