Royal College of Art
There is a support scheme for refugees and asylum seekers here — up to £20,000. Below: who it is for, how to apply, and how it feels here as an adult student.
How it feels here as an adult
19.2% of students are over 30 and 45.8% are over 25 — an average picture for a UK university.
HESA · Table 3 — HE student enrolments by HE provider and age group, 2024/25 · Counts every student at the provider, including postgraduate, distance and partner programmes. Source
What the university gives
RCA Sanctuary Scholarship
up to £20,000Open to applicants who do receive student finance. Gives: full tuition waiver · living costs.
Dates: Not yet published for 2026/27; unified application launching spring 2026
If you are an asylum seeker
While there is no decision on your claim, government student finance is closed to you. That is the rule in England; in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland funding works differently and the decision belongs to the local agency rather than SFE. Universities decide the tuition rate differently: some will treat you as “overseas”, the expensive rate, and some charge asylum seekers the home rate. Ask about this first — the answer changes the sum several times over. The main road here is still one: a scholarship from the university itself, created for people in your position.
- RCA Sanctuary Scholarship — up to £20,000
Check separately college and ESOL: in England free English classes are normally available after six months of waiting for a decision, and it does not affect a future university application.
If you have refugee status
With recognised refugee status or humanitarian protection you pay the home fee rate and can access student finance from day one: the three-year residence rule does not apply to these statuses (Education (Student Support) Regulations, Schedule 1). That changes the picture: the loan covers tuition, and a scholarship is no longer instead of it but on top — for living costs, housing, a laptop. Schemes marked “only if student finance is not available to you” will normally turn you down, and that is about the scheme's condition, not about you.
- RCA Sanctuary Scholarship — up to £20,000
If you only have a school certificate
That is a normal starting point, not a problem. A school certificate from another country is rarely treated as equivalent to British school qualifications, so the way into university runs through a foundation year — a preparatory year inside the university — or through Access to HE at a college.
On most of these routes there are no subject entrance exams: the exceptions are medicine, dentistry and creative courses, where tests or portfolios do appear. The main thing you will have to prove is English: usually IELTS or an equivalent, and sometimes a college result is enough. An interview is not required everywhere, and where it happens it is a conversation about your plans, not a test of knowledge. Step by step — in the route guide.
What to ask the university
- How will you decide my fee status given my immigration status — home or overseas?
- Does the scholarship still apply if a decision on my claim arrives mid-year?
- Do I need an offer for the programme before applying for the scholarship?
- What English qualifications do you accept besides IELTS?
Who to write to: scholarship@rca.ac.uk
Every fact on this page is checked against the university's own site and official sources; the check date is shown with each scheme. All universities with support schemes · All schemes · Education hub