Scheme supporting displaced students set to double its reach
A flagship programme providing displaced students and academics access to education has marked its first anniversary by announcing ambitious plans to expand its support.
Education Beyond Borders scholarship students and team members celebrate the programme's first anniversary.
Launched in January 2024, the University of Edinburgh's Education Beyond Borders programme created a new postgraduate scholarship in support of up to 30 students who have been displaced from their home countries each year.
Last September, the new scholarship welcomed its first cohort of 21 postgraduate students from countries including Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, Eritrea, Turkey, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Yemen.
The first year of the Education Beyond Borders programme has been celebrated as a success, with students responding well to the teaching and learning programmes offered at the University of Edinburgh.
Education Beyond Borders Manager Nadin Akta leads a panel discussion with current scholarship students.
The programme continues to develop, with the announcement that the scholarship scheme will expand in its second year, made at an event marking the programme’s first anniversary.
From the start of the 2025/26 academic year the scheme will be able to support up to twice as many students by expanding its offering to include online learning in addition to in-person scholarships.
The Education Beyond Borders 2024/25 postgraduate student scholars.
This development means that students in need of access to continued education in countries around the world due to conflict, persecution or other serious human rights violations, will now be able to access learning opportunities at the University online.
This is in addition to those who have already left their homes by seeking asylum in the UK, and who are able to take up in-person study in Edinburgh.
On our anniversary we are both celebrating the first year of our Education Beyond Borders Programme as well as looking forward to its future. As a University of Sanctuary, we've long supported forcibly displaced and at-risk academics and students. This programme unites these efforts, allowing us to expand opportunities and offer enhanced support, including academic preparation, health services, accommodation, career guidance and cultural events.
Alan Mackay
Deputy Vice Principal International and Director of Edinburgh Global
The University’s existing Academic-At-Risk Fellowship Programme can also offer up to 10 placements per year for fellows and their families.
Academics at risk in their home country due to conflicts or persecution can apply for a fully-funded two-year visiting fellowship placement via Cara (Council for At-Risk Academics), who work with Education Beyond Borders to place candidates whose studies match the University’s research portfolio.
Education Beyond Borders Scholar & Student Champion, Shakya Seresinghe, takes part in a panel discussion about the programme.
Fully-funded scholarships are available for students within and beyond the UK who hold a form of refugee or similar status, for study on-campus or online, primarily but not exclusively at postgraduate taught level.
Applications for the next round are currently open, with displaced students looking to continue their studies as part of a full-time postgraduate programme, able to apply until 17 February 2025.
Having a structured scholarship programme where we meet regularly and knowing that there are other scholars like me is important. I didn't know anyone else who was an asylum seeker for the majority of my undergraduate degree, so that was very isolating. Now I have this big group of people, some who I'm friends with and that's been really nice, and a big help in settling into life here and at the University.
Those with lived experiences of displacement are at the heart of Education Beyond Borders. They have helped guide the development of the programme through regular engagement and reflection with the programme leadership to refine the level and type of support that can best meet the needs of our growing community of students and academics.
Deputy Vice Principal International & Director of Edinburgh Global, Alan Mackay, speaks at the Education Beyond Borders anniversary celebration.
Further specialist services for students and academics, for example trauma counselling, are provided working in liaison with relevant professional services within and beyond the University, becoming part of the programme’s offering through ongoing conversations with its community.
We collaborate with partners locally, nationally and internationally to make this possible, and are currently hosting over twenty scholars to pursue postgraduate master’s degrees and nine at-risk fellows continuing their research.Our next steps are to expand scholarships for online programmes for forcibly displaced people, coordinate our research in this field and seek new opportunities to support access to higher education and careers for students and academics forcibly displaced by conflict, violence and persecution.
Alan Mackay
Deputy Vice Principal International & Director of Edinburgh Global
