Sanctuary Scholarships (Peggie Rimmer / Somerville College / Elana / Mastercard Foundation AfOx Sanctuary)
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 graduate study at Oxford, ticking that you are a refugee/displaced person on the application
- Apply for an eligible course by the relevant December or January deadline and receive an offer
- Eligible offer holders are emailed by the University and asked to submit a separate scholarship application
- If eligible but not contacted, email academic.futures@admin.ox.ac.uk by 15 March to confirm you wish to apply
- Outcome usually announced by email in mid-June
How they select
application form · 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
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.
- Ask whether the Somerville College Sanctuary Scholarships (Peggie Rimmer / Elana / Mastercard Foundation AfOx) require that the applicant has NO access to government student finance (Tuition Fee Loan / Maintenance Loan), or whether someone with recognised refugee status already receiving student finance can also apply.
- 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: student.funding@some.ox.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
Somerville College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, on Woodstock Road, Oxford. Somerville's own page directs applicants to Oxford's central Refugee Academic Futures scheme for full mechanics, which is where the detail above (and 'awards are made for the full duration of your fee liability') comes from.
There are adults, but they are a minority. 21.4% of students are over 30 and 37.5% are over 25 — an average picture for a UK university.
In detail about Somerville College, University of Oxford: 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 →
Four distinct sub-scholarships bundled on this page, one Africa-specific (Mastercard Foundation AfOx). […]