Strathclyde offering scholarships to asylum seeking students

We were the first Scottish uni to offer scholarships for refugees


The university will offer a  “limited number”  of scholarships to refugees hoping to attend in the academic year 15/16.

Strathclyde was the first Scottish uni to offer scholarships to refugees, last year awarding financial help to three asylum seekers, with around the same number expected this year.

The scholarships, worth thousands of pounds, provide tuition fees and a study allowance of  £2,000. They are available to both undergraduate and taught postgraduate students.

The fund aims to help students not eligible or denied funding from relevant government bodies such as SAAS.

The university said it has “worked closely with the University of Strathclyde’s Student Association and the Scottish Refugee Council in developing this scholarship, which is intended to help Asylum Seekers and those staying in the UK on humanitarian grounds to overcome barriers in progressing to higher education.”

Strathclyde also offers help through it’s Law Clinic and work with Teacher training programmes for refugees.

The Strathclyde Law clinic now collaborates with the Refugee Survival Trust and Scottish Refugee Council and aims to “assist destitute asylum seekers who have exhausted all rights of appeal but who may have grounds for a fresh application for asylum in the UK.”

In partnership with Strathclyde, the RITeS Project (Refugees Into Teaching in Scotland) works with refugees who have teaching qualifications, supporting them with job applications and interviews, helping to obtain placements at Scottish schools and providing support to help them enter or re-enter higher education.


Asylum seekers are usually not eligible for such funding, meaning they struggle to progress into higher education. Home office decisions are often delayed or denied and asylum seekers are not yet allowed the right to work in the UK.

Strathclyde hopes such initiatives are helping to bridge the gap between school and university for talented international students in hardship.

Applicants for the 2015/16 asylum seekers scholarship will find out the outcome of applications prior to their course start date.