Refugee Academic Futures scholarships
About this opportunity
The Refugee Academic Futures scholarships offer financial support to pursue graduate study at Oxford to students who are refugees or other people with lived experience of displacement.
Thanks to the generous support of funding partners across the University, colleges and beyond; as well as support from the student members of the University of Oxford and the Oxford University Student Union, the University has been able to offer scholarships to refugees and other forced migrants since the 2016-2017 academic year. These awards have been offered through the Oxford Student Refugee Campaign and the Oxford Refugee Scheme, and have now been incorporated into the Academic Futures programme, through the creation of the Refugee Academic Futures scheme.
The scholarships are open to all academic subjects. Each scholarship will cover your course fees in full and will provide you with a grant for living costs. Awards are made for the full duration of your fee liability for your course. Scholars will be offered opportunities to receive mentoring and a bespoke programme of pre-arrival, on-course, and post-completion support.
Level of Study
- Master’s - Taught
- Master’s - Research
- PhD
Eligibility
Asylum seeker, Refugee, Humanitarian protection, Limited or Discretionary Leave to Remain, Indefinite Leave to Remain, Ukraine or Afghan Schemes, British National Overseas (BNO), Other forms of sanctuary (including Calais Leave, Section 67 Leave, UASC leave and Stateless Leave), I am outside of the UK
Additional notes about eligibility criteria
The Refugee Academic Futures scholarships are available for applicants who have been displaced due to conflict, persecution, or other serious human rights violations or deprivations, whether within or outside their country of origin, and who hold an offer for either a taught or research postgraduate degree, starting in the 2026-27 academic year. This includes all full-time and part-time DPhil and master’s courses.
These scholarships support students across the University and are open to all subject areas.
What is included in this opportunity?
- Fee Waiver (no fees)
- Full bursary (study costs and full living costs)
- Partial bursary (study costs and partial living costs)
Additional notes about support provided
All applications for the Refugee Academic Futures scholarship will be checked for eligibility and then assessed by a panel of academics. The panel will review each applicants’ admissions application and Refugee Academic Futures application. Decisions will be made on the basis of academic merit and potential, alongside contextual information on the educational disruption applicants have experienced due to displacement.
All Refugee Academic Futures applicants will be contacted with the outcome of their scholarship application by email, most outcomes will be announced by mid-June. Final college placements will also be confirmed for awards that are tenable at specific colleges only. If you are offered and accept a scholarship, this means your funding is now secure as long as you meet the conditions of your offer of a place to study at Oxford.
Types of study available
- Part-time / flexible
- Full-time
Additional details about application process
We will contact you to ask you to apply for these scholarships if you have:
1. applied for an eligible course by the relevant December or January application deadline for your course and received an offer; and
2. indicated that you are a refugee/displaced when you applied for your course.
Please note, if you do not tick the box on the application form to indicate that you have a displacement background you will not be invited to apply for the scholarship, even if you have mentioned this elsewhere in your application. If you are eligible but did not complete the question on your course application about refugee/displaced status then you can still email us (via academic.futures@admin.ox.ac.uk) by 15th March 2026 to confirm that you wish to apply.
If you are eligible for these scholarships, you will be considered regardless of which college (if any) you state as your preference on your graduate application form. However, some of these awards are only tenable at specific colleges and successful applicants will be transferred to the relevant college in order to take up the scholarship if applicable.
Is this opportunity available for individuals outside of the UK?
Yes
On-going opportunity
Yes
For further questions contact the scholarship provider
Email Us sanctuary@ox.ac.uk
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