The Marks Family Charitable Trust is partnering with the University of Oxford to support graduate students from displaced backgrounds.
The trust is helping to fund the University’s Refugee Academic Futures programme, which was established in 2021 to provide scholarships for students who are refugees or who have lived experience of displacement. With application numbers from eligible candidates increasing year-on-year, their support will play a key role in enabling Oxford to sustain and grow the programme.
The University has a long history of supporting people who have been forcibly displaced around the world, including welcoming refugee academics during the Second World War. In May 2023 Oxford received University of Sanctuary status in recognition of this continued commitment.
Alex Betts, Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs and the University’s Local and Global Engagement Officer, said: ‘We are delighted that the Marks Family Charitable Trust has agreed to donate in support of Refugee Academic Futures. We are seeing increasing numbers of refugees and peoples from displaced backgrounds applying to study at Oxford. Donors such as the Marks Family Charitable Trust will enable Oxford to continue providing sanctuary and financial support to those who need it.’
The Refugee Academic Futures programme aims to address the significant barriers that students with lived experience of displacement can face in realising their right to education and unlocking their full potential. It provides full scholarships to students who receive an offer to study a postgraduate degree at Oxford, covering both their course fees and living costs.
Recipients of the scholarship are also offered an enhanced programme of pre-arrival and on-course support to ensure they settle and thrive at the University. This support is delivered as part of a programme of care for all students and staff who have experiences of displacement and includes professional development opportunities, invitations to regular cultural and social events, and pastoral support from a Sanctuary Community Coordinator.
Reflecting on the impact of the Refugee Academic Futures scholarships, a current recipient said: ‘To say that my Oxford experience changed my life would be an understatement. The possibility of continuing my studies at the University represents an unimaginable personal intellectual achievement for someone like me. The scholarship also gives me an opportunity to promote change outside of academia because I will continue to be active in encouraging access to education for migrants and refugees like myself.’
The Marks Family Charitable Trust was established in 1971 by Simon Marks, who wished to continue the long tradition of philanthropy passed down from his great grandfather Michael, founder of Marks and Spencer. For a half a century the trust has supported causes and issues that it feels require attention in today’s world, placing an emphasis on education and health, refugees to the UK and promotion of the arts.
A trustee of the trust said: ‘The Refugee Academic Futures programme strongly aligns with the Marks family trust’s core values regarding access to education. We hope that by supporting displaced students from around the globe to study at one of the world’s leading universities we can help not only to change the lives of those individuals, but also to break down barriers for refugees in academia more widely.’
The Refugee Academic Futures scholarship programme forms part of Oxford’s Academic Futures series, which was set up in 2020 to help achieve a significant and lasting improvement in access to postgraduate study at the University. The series also includes Black Academic Futures scholarships and Care-Experienced Academic Futures scholarships.