King’s Sanctuary Programme

Citizens UK has announced King’s College London as the UK’s first ‘Refugees Welcome University’ in recognition of its contribution to understanding and responding to the global issue of forced displacement.

The Refugees Welcome accreditation scheme recognises universities that have made a commitment to welcome forced migrants into their institution and community, offer a comprehensive programme of education and research on migration, and develop an action plan to improve the lives of forced migrants in the UK.

In addition to a migration research programme and inclusion into the curriculum of issues faced by refugees, King’s offers a scholarship scheme for forced migrants in the UK, leads the development and delivery of educational programmes in the Middle East, and is working to bring a family to the UK under the UK’s Community Sponsorship Scheme.

Find out more about Citizens UK here

With a shared interest in innovative digital pedagogy, student support and delivery, PADILEIA consists of three universities – King’s College London, Al Al-Bayt University in Jordan, and the American University of Beirut in Lebanon – as well as Kiron Open Higher Education (a digital-education NGO) and FutureLearn (a leader in online learning).

PADILEIA is increasing access to higher education for refugee and disadvantaged host communities in Jordan and Lebanon. PADILEIA’s education offering consists of blended academic programmes, including short online courses, targeted online learning and classroom-based learning. Its target learners are displaced individuals living in Jordan and Lebanon; however, the project has seen thousands of online learners from around the world also benefit.

In June 2018, King’s launched two free short online courses in English on FutureLearn, which learners can join from any device, computer or smartphone with an internet connection. These courses enable refugees and displaced people to resume their studies, learn everyday conversational English, and develop transferable skills for their futures. They also provide a foundation for learners to advance onto higher education programmes. To date, 492 refugee and disadvantaged Jordanian and Lebanese students have completed a King’s College London short course in English. While the course content was specifically designed around the study interests of communities in Jordan and Lebanon, they are open to all people in the region and beyond. There are currently 54,097 learners on the English courses worldwide.

The PADILEA partnership also runs two 8-month foundation programmes in Jordan and Lebanon for over 100 students a year, led by the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and Al Al-Bayt University in Jordan, alongside custom-made online study programs using massive open online courses (MOOCs) and blended activities run by Kiron Open Higher Education.

Find out more about PADILEIA here

Since 2016, King’s has provided Sanctuary Scholarships for students who are asylum seekers or have been granted limited leave to remain and have no access to Student Finance. The scholarships comprise full tuition fee support and help with living costs per academic year of an undergraduate programme. To date, King’s has offered twenty scholarships – eleven in previous years and nine for September 2019.

One of the most recent recipients said: ‘This Sanctuary Scholarship is hope renewed for me and my family. Words can’t truly express my gratitude, it is a blessing and a fresh start for me. My aspirations to go to a world-renowned university and begin to realise my career ambitions are being fulfilled and it all feels like a dream!’ 

Find out more about the Sanctuary Scholarships here

Find out more about support available at King’s for forced migrant students here

King’s supports Citizens UK’s Children into Citizens Campaign, which is calling on the Home Office to reduce the application fee for child citizenship from £1012 to cost price. In addition to supporting this campaign, King’s has been instrumental in setting up the Citizenship Payment Plan (administered by EdAid), which provides interest free loans to parents so that they can pay for their children’s citizenship applications and avoid risky and expensive debt.

Find out more about the Children into Citizens Campaign here

Find out more about the Citizenship Payment Plan here

King's Student Action for Refugees (KCL STAR) is a student-run organisation that aims to raise awareness of refugee issues and promote the integration of refugees and asylum seekers into society. STAR volunteers work at three programmes for students from refugee backgrounds in London, including homework clubs and an outreach programme focusing on how to apply to university in the UK.

Find out more about KCL STAR here

King's Legal Clinic offers free legal advice to students and staff at King’s and members of the public, including people with a forced migration background. The Clinic is run in partnership with Duncan Lewis Immigration and Asylum Clinic.

Find out more about King's Legal Clinic here

The topic of migration and refugees features in curricula across the university through both standard modules and innovative learning initiatives. The latter includes the development of the service module ‘Migration, Social Justice and Community Organising’, which combines class-based learning with societal impact as students develop and run a community organising campaign with Citizens UK. In addition, the Migration Research Group is involved in three Erasmus+ funded education and training projects which offer a range of one-week professional development training course on refugee inclusion in Italy, Spain and Greece for King’s staff.

The Migration Museum has embarked on a collaborative residency with King’s Arts and Humanities Research Institute (AHRI). The Migration Museum will provide King’s with insight into creative public engagement, assisting in making academic research more accessible and helping King’s become a truly civic university. The Museum will also share their experiences of capturing peoples’ stories and creating meaningful maintained relationships with people and communities. In return, AHRI will provide the Museum with academic oversight, steering, evaluation and support, as well as guidance and expertise on the museum’s academic direction.

Find out more about the Migration Museum here

King’s scholars develop world class research that impacts on the issues of refugees, migration and borders through a range of research centres, projects and events, which actively engage King’s staff and students as well as the wider community. King’s hosts the Migration Research Group and the Centre for Migration and Resettlement. Recent projects include Moving Hearts, Enacting border security in the digital age and Migrant Voices in London.

Find out more:

Migration Research Group

Centre for Migration and Resettlement

Moving Hearts

Enacting border security in the digital age

Migrant Voices in London