PARTNERS Programme

This is not a scholarship. There is no money or fee discount here — it is admission support: a visit, a consultation, an open day or a preparatory programme. Useful as a first contact with the university, but funding for study has to be found separately.

What it gives

application support

"Financial support" listed as a benefit category but no amount specified on NCL's own page

Who it is for

other categories — see terms

Level of study: Access to HE, undergraduate

The student finance condition

The student finance condition is not stated

The scheme page does not say whether applicants must be without access to student finance. Ask before applying — the answer decides whether the application is worth making.

How to apply

You do not need to wait for an offer — the scholarship application can run alongside admission.

Check your eligibility, including the postcode eligibility checker on the PARTNERS site (or email partners@ncl.ac.uk if the checker gives no result)
Submit a separate PARTNERS application by the relevant deadline: 22 October 2026 for Medicine (A100) and Dentistry (A206); 29 January 2027 for all other courses
Meet the essential criteria (UK resident, 'Home' fee status, no existing HE qualification, predicted grades no more than one grade below the PARTNERS offer) plus at least one widening-participation criterion — refugee status, asylum seeker status, or humanitarian protection (as a Home fee student) is one of the listed criteria, alongside postcode, care experience, free school meals/Pupil Premium, and others; most are confirmed via a referee on the PARTNERS application, with extenuating circumstances sometimes needing a GP letter or school statement
Make Newcastle your firm choice on UCAS (typically by June)
Attend and complete the PARTNERS Academic Summer School (27 June – 2 July 2027) to receive the reduced offer (up to three A-level grades, or equivalent, below the standard offer)

What to prepare

Referee confirmation on the PARTNERS application
Supporting evidence for extenuating circumstances where applicable (e.g. a GP letter or school statement)

How they select

application form · references · evidence of circumstances

There is no interview — the decision is made on documents. On most routes there are no subject entrance exams either: the main hurdle on the way into university is proving your level of English. The exceptions are medicine, dentistry and creative courses, where tests and portfolios do appear.

Dates

Can you apply now · as of 6 September 2026

Rolling admissions

Where the date comes from: “Rolling/ongoing; no cycle-specific deadline stated»

Deadline

Rolling/ongoing; no cycle-specific deadline stated

When applications open

Applications open each autumn; deadline 22 Oct for Medicine/Dentistry, 29 Jan for all other courses (for the following September's entry); Academic Summer School runs late June/early July

For how many years

Given for one year. For the next year you have to apply again or find other support.

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.

The page with the full PARTNERS Programme eligibility criteria (leave to remain / refugee status) is currently unavailable and the archived version returns 404. Ask Newcastle University whether refugees with full access to Student Finance can join PARTNERS, or whether the programme is only for those without it.
Is it essential that I have no access to student finance? If I already have refugee status, can I still apply?
What happens to the payments if I am granted refugee status mid-year?

Who to write to: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/partners/help-and-support/contact-us/; partners@ncl.ac.uk; +44 (0)191 208 6000

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

Newcastle University's main campus is in Newcastle upon Tyne (NE1 7RU). PARTNERS is a non-competitive, uncapped widening-participation route to a reduced admissions offer plus a free Academic Summer School; it explicitly requires 'Home' fee-status classification, and lists refugee/asylum/humanitarian-protection status (as a Home fee student) as one of several qualifying widening-participation criteria.

Mostly school leavers. Only 5.8% of students are over 30. If you are over 35, look at other universities on the list — there are more adults there.

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

Source

We found this scheme in the STAR Network and Displaced Student Opportunities lists, but the institution's own site was unavailable when we checked: the page returned an error or blocked automated access. The record is therefore built from an archived copy and open sources — check the terms with the institution before you apply. Checked on: 22 August 2026.

The scheme page on the institution's site →

This is Newcastle's general widening-participation route (reduced offers, free summer school) for 10,000+ students over 25 years — NCL's own page does not confirm asylum/refugee-specific eligibility as the aggregator […]