At King’s College London, we recognise that any legal background of involuntary immigration can have a significant impact on educational opportunities and outcomes, and therefore provide pre-entry and on-course support to forced migrant students. 

We use the term 'forced migrant' as an umbrella term for the following immigration backgrounds.

• Refugee is a former asylum seeking person who has been granted refuge in a country other than their home country. They have been able to prove that if they are returned home, they will be persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion.
• Humanitarian Protection is given to people, if sent back, who would face punishment due to a previously unmentioned case.
•  Asylum Seeker is someone who has lodged an application for protection on the basis of the Refugee Convention or Article 3 of the ECHR.
• Limited Leave to Remain is given for applicants with unique cases to remain in the UK for a limited period of time.
• Unaccompanied asylum-seeking child status is given in unique cases for children arriving to the country separated from their parents, for a limited period of time, usually until they turn 17.5.

Disclosing forced migrant status can provide context when making admissions decisions but also ensures we provide the right financial, academic, and personal support.  We do not need to know why a student is a forced migrant or any other detail.

To disclose their forced migrant status students should do the following if relevant: 

• Say they are a forced migrant student on their personal statement 
• Ensure the teacher reference gives additional information and provides context 
• If needed, fill in the Mitigating Circumstances form.
• Contact us directly at priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk 

Evidence needed - applicants to King's 

To be verified as a student from a forced migration background when applying to King’s, you will be required to submit evidence to show that you meet this status. The below outlines what you will need to complete this process.

You will need to upload your evidence to your King's Apply portal or email to priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk and include your UCAS ID number in the email.

Refugee

• A valid Refugee Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)
• Or; a letter from the Home Office confirming Refugee Status in the UK

Humanitarian Protection

• Upload or email a clear photo or scan of both sides of your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) or a letter from the Home Office confirming Humanitarian Protection

Limited Leave to Remain (LLR)

• Upload a valid Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) or evidence that you have submitted an in-time visa application, *
• To show this, please provide your previous visa and evidence of your new application with either a proof of postage receipt and/or a letter from the Home Office which confirms receipt of your application.

Asylum Seeker

• Please note that if you are currently awaiting a decision on your claim from the Home Office, you will unfortunately be ineligible to apply for funding from Student Finance. You may however be eligible to apply for one of our Sanctuary Scholarships when these become available. Please see further details below. We would also advise visiting the resources linked under the Further information and useful links section at the bottom of this webpage.

If you are a forced migrant and applying to study at King’s, we strongly advise you to disclose this directly to us. This will allow admissions staff to take your circumstances into consideration and will not have a negative impact on your application. 

We use this data to holistically assess an applicant’s future potential to succeed and to differentiate between similar highly qualified candidates.

As a forced migrant , you will receive additional consideration. Examples of the ways in which additional consideration is given are described below:

• Students whose predicted grades are marginally lower than that required for the course may be given an offer.
• Students whose application is considered as being close to the standard required to gain an interview may be offered an interview.
• Students whose admissions test score is considered as being close to the required standard might be given an offer or interview.
• Students who narrowly fail to meet their conditional offer will be given additional consideration as to whether their place should be confirmed.

To receive this consideration, you must contact priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk directly

Application support

King's College London has a designated member of staff (pre-entry), who can assist forced migrant students with all aspects of the application process: you can talk about course choices, receive feedback on a draft personal statement, tips on interviews as well as guidance on King's other support services e.g., student funding or the disability services.

For more information, please contact us on priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk.

King's College London recognises the challenges faced by forced migrant students. We offer extensive support before they start at university.  

Pre-university events 

Long- term programmes 

• King’s College London Widening Participation department prioritises forced migrant learners on long-term pre-university programmes. To learn more about long-term programmes run by King's Widening Participation department, visit our projects for prospective students webpages. 

One-off events 

Campus Tours 

• Watch our campus tour videos online, led by current students, to get a feel for study spaces and explore the social spaces on campus to find out the best spots to relax, grab a bite to eat and meet friends! You can also sign up to be notified about visiting campus for a tour. 

Open days 

• As an alternative to our undergraduate on campus open days, we've been running a series of online events. You can catch up with all sessions on demand at your leisure and book onto upcoming events, as well as find out the latest updates for on campus events. 

Financial Support

We have a number of scholarships specifically for forced migrant students. Details of these scholarships are below.

Sanctuary Scholarships

• Sanctuary Scholarships: King’s College London has created a support package to ensure students who are not eligible for student finance can access higher education. We are offering Sanctuary Scholarships for students seeking sanctuary in the UK. These comprise of full tuition fee support and help with living costs, for each academic year of an undergraduate programme.
• You must also, by virtue of your immigration status, be unable to access the Tuition Fee Loan or Maintenance Loan from Student Finance England.

Dr Monica Malik Refugee Bursary

• King's College London is delighted to offer the Dr Monica Malik Refugee Bursary. This bursary will support postgraduate students from a refugee or humanitarian protection background to study at King's. The scholarship is worth £10,000.

Other scholarships

• King's offers several other bursaries which depending on immigration and fee status, forced migrant students may be eligible for. Please see our undergraduate fees and funding page.

Applying for student finance

We can offer support to forced migrant students in identifying whether they are eligible for student finance based on their immigration status. If students are not eligible, we can help explore other avenues of financial support. 

Further information and useful links

If you are working with a young person from a forced migration background who is considering applying to university, or you have a forced migration background yourself and you would like more information about the support available, please contact priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk.

Additionally, below you'll find a list of useful links where you can find more information about support and advice for forced migrants:

• We Belong provides advocacy, support and assistance to young people in difficulty; particularly those in trouble with the law and at risk of exclusion from school.
• Schwab & Westheimer Trust: The trust provide grants and scholarships for young asylum seekers and refugees in education. Their scholarship programme is now open: closing date is the 31st May. 
• Student Action for Refugees: STAR is a national charity of 26,000 students welcoming refugees to the UK. They volunteer at local refugee projects, campaign to improve the lives of refugees and educate people about refugees and asylum. They also maintain a list with universities currently offering scholarships for forced migrant students. Find a list of scholarships on the Student Action for Refugees university scholarships website.
• Displaced Student Opportunities UK
• Refugee Youth: Youth led organisation where young people work together to solve their problems through art workshops and events, e.g., poetry, painting, drama and film making.

If you have any further queries at all, please don't hesitate to contact us via email at priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk.