The Equal Access campaign run by STAR has been running for 10 years and aims to achieve the goal of equal access to university for asylum-seekers. Currently, over 60 UK Universities offer scholarships or bursary support. However, there are still limitations regarding the number of scholarships offered.
STAR and the NUS held an Equal Access Conference for university staff, NGOs, scholarship recipients, and student activists, aimed at sharing good practices on developing scholarships, access to courses, funding and welfare. De Montfort University, SOAS, University of Bristol and University of York presented their exemplary scholarship schemes.
The day closed with a moving speech from STAR activist Maryam Taher from York STAR, who explained how receiving an Equal Access scholarship changed not only her life, but also the lives of those around her. She emphasized the importance of universities creating and strengthening Equal Access schemes so that more refugees can be positively impacted by access to higher education.