Equal Access Scholarship (undergraduate) at University of York 2026

University of York are pleased to offer two scholarships for undergraduate students who are seeking refuge in the UK. You must have applied to the University of York before submitting an application for this scholarship.

Table of Content

• Summary
• Benefits
• Requirements
• Application Deadline
• How To Apply

Summary

• Application DeadlineMay 18, 2026
• Study LevelUndergraduate
• SponsorUniversity of York
• City to studyYork
• School to studyUniversity of York
• Eligible CountryAll Countries

Benefits

The scholarship provides:

• a full fee waiver (you will not need to pay any tuition fees for three years of an undergraduate degree)
• a maintenance award of up to £12,300 per annum for three years of an undergraduate degree, to help with living costs.

Requirements

Open to International (including EU) students only.

Open to international sanctuary-seeking students already residing in the UK. 

To be considered for the scholarship, you must:

• have a conditional or unconditional offer from the University of York for 2026
• have applied for asylum before you have applied for a place at university
• not have access to mainstream funding eg student finance or a local authority grant.

Your current immigration status can be described as one of the following:

• Discretionary/Limited Leave to Remain (DLR/LLR)
• Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)
• Humanitarian Protection (HP) and do not have access to mainstream funding
• awaiting a decision on an application for refugee status
• leave as an Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child (UASC leave)
• Refused Asylum Seeker - your application for refugee status has been refused and you have submitted an appeal or a fresh claim
• a dependent or partner of any of the above status groups.

If you have already been granted Refugee Status or Humanitarian Protection Status, you may be eligible for financial support from Student Finance England (gov.uk).

You will not be eligible if you:

• have already completed an undergraduate degree
• are applying to study at the Hull York Medical School
• are applying for the two-year LLB (Hons) Law (Senior Status)
• are applying for a course which includes work placements and you do not currently have a right to work in the UK.

Before applying to study at the University of York you should carefully consider the documentation you have received from the Home Office in relation to your asylum. Please be aware that some programmes require you to undertake work placements that may not be permitted under the terms of your documentation. If you require any advice, please contact us at [email protected].

Asylum seekers without permission to work are advised to seek legal advice if they are considering undertaking a course which includes a work placement. It is very unlikely that the asylum seeker will be able to undertake a placement as part of a course, whether that placement is unpaid, paid, or has an attached training allowance, without first obtaining permission to work. In any case, they should not start the course without obtaining the advice of their immigration lawyer or Home Office case owner, as they might need to have the conditions changed and/or any allowances might have an impact on their entitlement to financial support.

Application Deadline

How To Apply

1. Step 1. Apply to the University of York to study an eligible undergraduate course
   • Please see the 'requirements' section to see courses exempt from the scholarship and advice on courses with work placements eg nursing, midwifery, and social work. 
   • University of York encourages you to share information about your circumstances in the ‘more about me' section of your UCAS application. This will help us to support you better. Your UCAS application will also be looked at by our scholarship awarding panel.
2. Step 2. Apply for the Equal Access Scholarship 
   • You must apply online for this scholarship using this form.
   • As part of the application, you will need to provide:
   • your UCAS personal ID (this is ten digits long and can be found on your offer letter)
   • your York Application ID (this is nine digits long and can be found on your offer letter)
   • evidence of your asylum status, for example, your biometric residence permit or a UKVI share code
   • You will also need to answer three supporting questions which will help our scholarship awarding panel learn more about you. See the ‘how we allocate’ section for guidance on what our panel is looking for and how these are assessed. 
   • After applications have closed you may be invited to an informal interview with our scholarship awarding panel. We will contact you directly if we require this.
3. Step 3. Your application outcome
   • If you are eligible to be considered for the scholarship, we’ll be in touch by email with the outcome of your application on Monday 1 June 2026.
   • If you are successful, you must make the University of York your firm choice university on your UCAS application in order to receive the scholarship.  
   • If you receive any notification of a change to your immigration status during the application period or before commencing your course, you must email [email protected].

For more details, visit University of York Scholarship webpage