The University of Manchester has created fully-funded scholarships for 20 students who are fleeing war and persecution, with people now able to apply to start studying in September.
The University of Manchester Humanitarian scholarships were created in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but are open to any international applicant who has been displaced because of armed conflict or is at serious risk of persecution or violence due to race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
There are ten undergraduate and ten postgraduate-taught places on offer in the first year and successful applicants will have their fees, living expenses and visas covered. It is expected the scheme will cost around £5m a year to operate.
Professor Nalin Thakkar, Vice-President for Social Responsibility said: “The war in Ukraine has had a devastating effect on people’s educational chances – we have many Ukrainian staff and students and they asked us what more the University could do to support their people. We are also conscious that many other people around the world can’t reach their potential because of war or persecution and wanted to help address that on a long-term basis.”
The University of Manchester Humanitarian scholarships are just one of the many on offer supporting the University’s social responsibility agenda, which include Equity and Merit Scholarships for students from sub-Saharan Africa and Undergraduate Access Scholarships for UK applicants who have been in care or estranged.
Eligibility criteria
To apply for a scholarship, you’ll need all of the following:
- be at serious risk as a direct result of armed conflict, and/or
- be displaced inside or have been forced to leave your home country within the last three years because of armed conflict;
- be unable to access or complete higher education;
- have not previously studied, at any level, in the UK or EU;
- have received an offer of admission for entry in September 2024;
- be able to demonstrate knowledge of, and commitment, to, your chosen course;
- have an excellent academic background.
Unfortunately, we cannot accept applications from individuals who are currently in the UK or EU.If you’re on one of the Ukraine visa schemes (Homes for Ukraine, Ukraine Family Scheme, and Ukraine Extension Scheme), you’ll have access to Student Finance England and can apply for tuition fees and maintenance loan funding through them.If you’re an asylum seeker or refugee in the UK and want to study for an undergraduate degree, we offer Article 26 Sanctuary Seeking Scholarships.
Available courses
To be eligible for a Scholarship, you’ll need to be studying a full-time course as part-time and online courses are not included.
Undergraduate courses
The Scholarships are available for three-year undergraduate degrees. Applicants for Medicine (MBChB), Dentistry (BDS), Nursing or Architecture degrees are not eligible.
We’ll offer Scholarships for our integrated foundation year or Biosciences Foundation course if you don’t have the right qualifications for direct entry to any of our three-year degree courses in engineering, natural sciences and biosciences. However, funding is not available for the foundation programme run in partnership with INTO Manchester.
Master’s courses
All master’s courses except for the MBA and Clinical Medicine and Dentistry degrees are included in the Scholarship programme.
How to apply
To apply, you’ll first need an offer of admission. If you do not hold an offer then you cannot be considered for a scholarship.
Please note that obtaining an academic offer does not mean that you are guaranteed a scholarship. Academic admission and scholarship selection are two separate processes.
Undergraduate courses
You need to apply through UCAS. You can find some advice and information on how to apply on our applications webpage.
You may submit a conditional offer with your Scholarship application but you’ll need to have selected The University of Manchester as your firm UCAS choice by 20 May 2024.
Master’s courses
You must hold an unconditional offer at the time of the Scholarship application.
Some courses where there is high demand for places, operate a staged admissions process with selection deadlines throughout the year. We advise you to apply as early as possible.
On the funding section of the application form, under ‘Funding Sources’, please choose ‘University of Manchester scheme’ and for Awarding Body type put ‘Humanitarian Scholarship’.
In your formal offer letter, you may be asked to pay an acceptance deposit in order to secure your place. You do not need to do this. If your application is successful then the requirement to pay a deposit will be waived.
Applying for the Scholarship
Applications open on 1 March 2024 and close on 15 April 2024.
This webpage will be updated in early 2024 to include a link to the application form which will go live on 1 March 2024.
If you’re applying for a master’s scholarship, you must upload a copy of your unconditional offer letter with your application. We cannot accept any documents sent by email. For the undergraduate Scholarship, you should include your UCAS ID number on the form. You’ll receive an automatic acknowledgement when you s
Deadline
The deadline for applications is 30 June.