This survey is being circulated to collect data on how many people in Scotland are facing barriers to accessing funding for higher education in Scotland because of their immigration status. We hope that by collecting this information, we can advocate for change and ensure that young people and people in the asylum process who have made Scotland their home have equal access to university funding, and continue to pursue their passions through education.

Background:

To be regarded as a Home student (paying £1,820 per year), a school leaver must have a particular immigration status (for example, be British or have Indefinite Leave to Remain, which could take up to ten years to be granted by the Home Office). Otherwise, they get treated as an Overseas student, required to pay around £25,000 per year for a BSc and over £40,000 for a Medicine course. Even though, according to SAAS, there are a few exceptions to this (if you are the son/daughter of a Turkish national or an Afghani interpreter, for example), these exceptions are too selective and do not apply to the position of most migrant school leavers.

As an attempt to tackle this injustice, as a migrant school leaver myself, I have contacted my MSP, Kaukab Stewart, and the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, Shirley-Anne Somerville. My MSP welcomed my proposal to modify the residence requirements Scottish universities use to assess our fee statuses by regarding us (who have visas that entitle us to apply for an Indefinite Leave to Remain) as Home students, whereas the Cabinet Secretary did not.

I am working with the Maryhill Integration Network and JustRight Scotland to prepare a media campaign called: "Our Grades, Not Visas"  to raise the public's awareness of this issue; however, as you might have already guessed, a campaign that has the story of one person is unlikely to succeed. That is why I need the support of as many of us as possible. If you want to take part in this campaign, please get in touch with me on the email below. Only together we can make our voices heard and become able to go to university!

I would be immensely grateful if you could fill in this form with as much information as possible about your current immigration status, grades and plan after school. I need this information from you because it will allow me to have a more detailed, stronger case that can then be taken further. This information will be anonymous, and stored on a secure server in line with GDPR requirements.

All the responses are kept anonymous, but if you want to share a personal story (e.g. you stayed for S6 even though you got the grades needed in S5 because you couldn't go to university with an Overseas fee status), you may leave your first name and age (so your story can be used as a quote from you!)

Thank you so much! Please try and share this form with your migrant friends from other classes or schools as this will give a more accurate number.


This survey was designed by JustRight Scotland and Maryhill Integration Network