The UN Refugee Agency reports that across the world, over 100 million people are now forcibly displaced and these numbers continue to grow. By 2050, more than 1.2 billion people could be displaced by climate alone.
A world put on hold
As a King’s alum, you will remember starting university as a time of excitement, opportunity and newfound independence. But for students who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution or climate change, it’s a time of seemingly insurmountable challenges.
We often think about how forced displacement can leave people without homes, jobs, or access to basic services. But for many young people, they are also losing their education and the promise for the future it can bring.
Words cannot explain how grateful I am for the opportunities this scholarship has provided me. Without it, I would have been unable to go to university and fulfil my dreams. The financial support I received has taken such a weight off my back, and now I feel like the world and its many opportunities are truly available to me.
Sanctuary Programme student
Even if individuals do find sanctuary in another country, barriers to a university education remain. Beyond the financial obstacles, there are significant practical and emotional challenges. Navigating visa applications, adapting to life in the UK and understanding the system, all while dealing with trauma, can make the journey to Higher Education seem out of reach. Without help and support, many are forced to put their dreams on hold or abandon them entirely.
And it’s not just young people who are affected. Professional academics who are forced into displacement leave behind their longstanding research. This not only disrupts their career, income and family life but also their ability to make an impact on the world through their work.
A beacon of hope
The King’s College London Sanctuary Programme exists to make higher education accessible to people from forced migration backgrounds.
Since 2015, we have been supporting individuals affected by conflict and displacement to rebuild their lives. The programme provides full tuition waivers, living cost support, and dedicated wellbeing resources to help displaced students and academics navigate not just university life, but the healing process too.
Your help has changed my life completely. I am working hard every single day to help not only my family, but Ukraine and the whole world in general. And with your unbelievable support I can achieve that!
Sanctuary Programme student
Over the last nine years, the Sanctuary Programme has:
- Provided full tuition fee and living cost support to over 70 scholars, including 15 from Ukraine.
- Supported 13 at-risk academics to continue their research at King’s through existing schemes and a new fellowship programme.
- Provided emergency financial support to 19 forcibly displaced students experiencing severe hardship, enabling them to continue their education and preventing homelessness among those with precarious immigration status.
- Supported more than 1 million learners worldwide through PADILEIA online learning programmes, helping more than 100 of them to enrol at university.
- Brought together migration researchers with civil society, government, business and sanctuary seekers to develop research that positively shapes migration policy and practice.
- Committed to provide £500,000 per year towards Sanctuary scholarships and fellows for at least the next three years.
The Sanctuary Scholarship has had a transformative impact on both my life and academic journey. It made it possible for me to pursue a PhD in a field I’m passionate about. This support has not only relieved financial pressure but also given me the stability and focus needed to produce meaningful research with real-world impact.
Sanctuary Programme student
The power of philanthropy
The King’s Sanctuary Programme is underpinned by some amazing King’s donors, including Jesus the Light Scholarships, the Dr Monica Malik Refugee Bursary, XTX Markets and Urbanest.
These visionary donors are investing in the future. They recognise that behind every immigration statistic is a person with hopes, talents, and dreams, someone with the potential to contribute, to build, and to give back to society in meaningful and lasting ways.
The Sanctuary Fellowship offered not just financial support, but a sense of recognition, belonging, and possibility at a time of major transition. Being welcomed into an academic space like King’s allowed me to continue my research, contribute meaningfully to academic discourse, and re-establish myself as a scholar in a new country.
Sanctuary Programme student
We know that more needs to be done. Right now, there are far more talented young people in need than there are sanctuary scholarships. As conflicts intensify – from Gaza to Sudan to Ukraine – the number of students with nowhere to study rises. Each one of them has something to offer. Each one of them deserves the chance to sit in a lecture hall, not a refugee camp.
UK Refugee Week
As an official University of Sanctuary, King’s will be marking Refugee Week from 16-22 June
Forced migration is an enormous, global issue that can only be tackled through collaboration. We have ambitious plans to further expand our Sanctuary Programme, welcoming more students and academics and creating unique opportunities for forcibly displaced people. If you’d be interested in supporting this programme, contact forever@kcl.ac.uk
You can also take a look at our Refugee Week events here.
Find out more about how you can have a transformational impact on society by donating to King’s.
