Whilst any college that shares our vision or values can be a member of our network, the Further Education College of Sanctuary Award is given to colleges that demonstrate their efforts to go above and beyond to build a culture of welcome and belonging – in college and their community.
FE Colleges in recognition of their ongoing commitment to overcoming barriers to educational access for people seeking sanctuary, and providing thoughtful wrap around support. Awarded FE Colleges of Sanctuary work to address misinformation and prejudice by building understanding and empathy towards people seeking safety and working collaboratively to strengthen community approaches to welcoming refugee children and families. Further Education Colleges of Sanctuary that achieve the Sanctuary Award demonstrate a dedication to continuous development to strengthen college-wide practice.
How can our college achieve the FE College of Sanctuary Award?
City of Sanctuary UK currently run one application cohort every academic year and expect colleges to be working toward the award for at least 12 months before submitting a final application. Final applications are currently submitted in March.
It often takes up to 18-24 months to achieve the award.
STEP ONE: Join the Movement
Join the network and affirm your commitment to the City of Sanctuary vision of welcome for all in your college and in our communities. This takes less than two minutes and is one of the eight minimum criteria.
We will follow up as soon as we can to share a summary of all the support and opportunities we can offer, access to our Padlet of resources only available to member colleges, details of next application cohorts and connect you, where possible to local City of Sanctuary groups.
STEP TWO: Make a plan
Review what your FE College already has in place or has done to date to meet the award criteria using the FE College of Sanctuary audit tool to help you reflect on relevant areas of practice and identify areas for improvement.
We typically advise developing a cross-departmental steering group to ensure this is a college-wide effort that will be sustainable.
Co-production is at the heart of all sanctuary efforts – this means centering the voices and contributions of those directly affected by these issues, people with lived experience of seeking safety. FE Colleges should begin this journey by working with learners with a (forced) migration background to understand what they think are your strengths, how you can develop and how they want to get involved.
We also advise mapping local organisations, groups of institutions who also work with people seeking sanctuary to hear from them about how you can improve practice, strengthen process and support in your local area or collaborate on shared activities.
After this you can begin to put together an action plan for your college’s journey forward making sure this process is reflective, intentional and collaborative.
Make sure to use advice and resources on the FE College of Sanctuary website, and applicant college Padlet to support your efforts. Keep up to date about new opportunities, events and developments via our regular newsletter.
STEP 3: Take Action
Working across your college and community you can now put your plan into place! Where possible, handover roles and ownership of activities to learners, make sure to involve the whole college community and collaborate with other local partners. This shouldn’t be limited to your ESOL department and should extend beyond your college campus!
As you join the next application cohort, your college will be supported by the FE College of Sanctuary Team who will offer 1:1 advice sessions, informal draft feedback, access to a resource padlet and tailor network meetings to the needs and challenges of the applicant college cohort. We will also connect you with other members of our network to share advice, resources and pool expertise: we have a lot we can learn one another. Make sure to stay on top of upcoming meetings and deadlines, and take advantage of every opportunity to access support and suggestions.
As you work towards the application deadlines, make sure to review the application guidance to learn how to best format your application and organise your evidence portfolio and see examples. We always suggest starting early! Developing your application shouldn’t be a time consuming or painful process – make sure to review these resources to help you pull this together as easily and effectively as possible.
STEP 4: Submit an application
Submit a completed application form and evidence portfolio by the deadline. We ask for a draft first, and then colleges will be invited to submit a final application when the application is strong enough for review. The application should be no more than 12 pages maximum.
On submission of the application, make sure you City of Sanctuary UK is set up as a supplier to enable the transfer of the award fee – we ask for this to be sent on receipt of a successful award decision.
The final application and evidence portfolio will be reviewed by an appraisal team, consisting of an education expert, someone with lived experience and where possible someone based within your local area. We try to invite representatives of local refugee organisations and those with lived experience based locally who can offer vital insight into your local community context and college efforts.
The appraisal team will provide formal written feedback to help you prepare for an appraisal meeting where you can clarify any questions or queries and we can discuss your application further.
We aim for this not to be an inspection – but instead another opportunity for different stakeholders and parties to offer expertise, insight and suggestions and supportively and constructively challenge you to further develop your efforts. We appreciate colleges that come to this with an openness to dialogue, critical reflection and a commitment to ongoing development.
This is all about celebrating the amazing things you are doing, and helping you think through how you college can continue to develop or strengthen practice!
STEP 5: Celebrate!
As soon as possible after the appraisal meeting, we will share the final feedback and award decision. If necessary, this might include some conditions that must be met to receive the award.
Once awarded, transfer the award fee, before you announce your award achievement. You can then plan a celebration in collaboration with your learner, local City of Sanctuary group or refugee organisation and wider community. This is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate your achievements and the contributions of your learners but also try and engage other local organisations and individuals in welcoming activities.
Make sure to share your achievements on social media and on the college website and reach out to local press. Review your feedback and continue to implement your sanctuary efforts and develop a plan for renewal in three years.
How much is the FE College of Sanctuary Award Fee?
In the 2025/26 academic year the FE College of Sanctuary award fee is £660 for the three year duration of the award. This award fee contributes to the sustainability of the award, although does not currently cover all the costs of running the programme and we are hugely grateful for colleges that also support our work through fundraising efforts too.
We only ask for colleges to transfer the award fee on receipt of a successful award decision – this means prospective applicants can receive support and access to our tailored resources for as long as they need before being able to achieve the award.
Non-awarded members can continue to attend our events, access our resources and be a part of this network at no cost, although every donation received helps to secure the future of the programme.