More than 100 Palestinian students offered places at the University of Sheffield and other UK institutions remain trapped in Gaza and surrounding territories as the genocide continues – despite a high-profile campaign that forced limited concessions from the UK government.
Israeli bombardment has rendered Gaza’s UK-authorised biometric centres inoperable, leaving Palestinian students unable to submit paperwork, photos and data required for UK visas.
The “Gaza 40” campaign, launched by students in Palestine and Britain, urged ministers to waive those requirements so that over 40 fully funded, full-time offer-holders could reach third territories for visa processing requirements.
After months of lobbying – including multiple open letters garnering the collective support of over 5000 signatories – the Home Office agreed to defer biometric checks for the students.
Nine of those students have government-funded Chevening scholarships, with the remainder relying on unspecified private schemes. Hundreds of other Palestinian offer-holders without full funding have received no such concessions, and each evacuation of a student requires Israeli approval.
Sheffield Central MP Abtisam Mohamed told Parliament that each delay “puts futures and lives at risk,” highlighting the case of one of the 40, Yara (24), who holds an offer to study Internal Law and Global Justice at the University of Sheffield funded by the University of Sheffield Gaza-Palestine Scholarship.
Forge Press has found that the Gaza 40 represents only a fraction of those affected: internal university sources suggest that more than 100 Palestinian students with offers to Sheffield alone are awaiting pathways and support.
This stark reality reveals a broader story of student-led advocacy in Sheffield, encompassing urgent lobbying, financial barriers and a long history of solidarity with Palestine.
Speaking with Education Officer Sam Omondi and International and Welfare Officer Kiara Delgado Derteano, the two elected officers describe how the Gaza 40 quickly became the Gaza 40+ for them.
During meetings with fee teams, admissions teams, and students, just a week after the government’s concessions were announced, celebration was not the primary focus of the officer team.
Sam and Kiara explained that, via university communications and individual outreach, the team discovered the University of Sheffield may have more than one hundred potential Palestinian students displaced and awaiting pathways to the UK. These students have been left stranded because of insufficient full-time funding to adequately cover all needs, despite the absence of higher education facilities in Gaza.
Currently, the number of Palestinians who applied for 2025/26 scholarships is unknown. However, in 2024, 168 offer-holders applied, with five awarded scholarships, one being the Gaza-Palestine scholarship. When asked about the arrival or support provided to recipients by student societies in November 2024, the university provided no details. It is thought that numbers are higher this academic year.
All universities and colleges in Gaza have been destroyed, including Sheffield’s once-twin University, the Islamic University of Gaza, and over 90,000 university students have had their education disrupted. Refaat Ibrahim, a Palestinian writer, wrote for Al Jazeera, explaining:
“Very few families can continue educating all their children… the extremely poor… cannot send any of their children to school. For them, survival is the priority.”
Sam describes government concessions as a “first step, not a solution” to the state of higher education in Gaza, particularly as financial hurdles remain for the students left behind. Kiara told us:
“International students from conflict zones pay three or more times what home students pay. It’s over £24,000 in tuition fees and up to £50,000 in visa and living costs.”
These concerns are reflected in discussions surrounding the increasingly hostile approach to international students in the UK. The May 2025 white paper, ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System,’ proposed significant obstacles to accessible pathways for international students wishing to study and stay in the UK. Dr Nora Parr, a researcher at Birmingham University, spoke to the Guardian about the implications of the white paper on the government’s stance toward aid for Palestinian students, stating:
“The current government’s tough stance on immigration and absence of direct support for Palestine has left these students in the most dire limbo.”
The officers, who began their year-long roles in July, have become “de facto caseworkers”, mediating between students and the University, helping advocate for visa and admissions flexibility for students not included in the Gaza 40 group, some of whom they have never been able to reach.
Officers say individual university staff have been sympathetic, but institutional fear is high. Home Office audit threats and visa penalties mean strict English-language and biometric requirements remain, even when students present multiple forms of evidence. Whilst case-by-case alternatives are being considered, the process lacks a “trauma-informed” approach, leaving students anxious and at risk of Israeli violence. Those stranded have communicated feelings of abandonment and isolation.
Kiara notes,
“They receive these very matter-of-fact emails that feel corporate and cold – it’s demoralising when you’re living under bombardment.”
The stark difference between the institutional response offered to Ukrainian students and Palestinian students is a source of continued frustration. Sam highlighted that despite two years of escalating genocide, there’s been no blanket visa flexibility, waived English-language requirements, nor large-scale evacuations or housing support for Palestinian students as it has been for Ukrainian students. They draw attention to the “tragic irony” of the University of Sheffield’s controversial ties to the arms industry:
“It’s hard to reconcile universities profiting from the genocide while struggling to fund the very students affected by it.”
Alternative groups are working to secure safe pathways for these remaining students. A new call to action released by the Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine, Student Action for Refugees, People and Planet, and the Student Federation for a Liberated Palestine criticises the University of Sheffield for “uniquely… imposing further barriers compared with other universities”. Attached to the post is a petition to be signed, an email campaign, and fundraising links, all demanding that the university waive English-language tests and tuition fees, as well as defer offers and scholarships for those who were delayed in evacuating.
Jo, a now-graduated but active organiser in Palestinian solidarity, told Forge Press about the long history of student-led Palestinian activism in Sheffield.
Jo recalled the era of activism, 2008 onwards, when Israeli attacks on Gaza sparked a two-week student occupation of the Hicks Building. As a result of that action, a landmark agreement emerged: the Students’ Union would partner with the Islamic University of Gaza, and the university would establish the Gaza-Palestine scholarship, providing funding for one student each year. Jo reflected on how the arrival of the first, fully-funded Palestinian was received:
“When the first student finally arrived three years later, it was front-page news in the student paper. We’d won something that students had voted for and fought for.”
Two students – Fiona Edwards, the Women’s Officer at the time, and Charlie Lowe – were also funded by the university to visit Palestine on the 2010 Viva Palestina Flotilla, where they delivered humanitarian aid to Gaza under siege. The students returned, reporting their findings to Vice-Chancellor Keith Burnett, SU President Paul Tobin, and activism groups nationwide.
But Jo says institutional memory has faded. The scholarship stipend remained at just £4,000 for a decade, only recently rising to £5,000, which is well below similar schemes elsewhere. Leeds University, for example, offers a stipend of £12,000 with additional financial aid for travel costs, gym memberships and basic needs. Practical support, such as bus passes, free gym access, and trauma-informed counselling, has been nonexistent in Sheffield.
For Jo, the Gaza 40 campaign is both inspiring and shameful.
“It’s brilliant that students in Gaza have organised themselves, but it’s a shame on us that it’s still grassroots pressure making this happen. We did this institutionally for Ukraine almost overnight. Why not for Palestine?”
Criticism of the limited institutional response has grown, particularly as some forms of protest face legal restrictions.
In June, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, released a statement announcing the proscription of Palestine Action, citing the action, publication, and promotion of serious property damage as a key deciding factor. The decision to proscribe the direct-action group as a terrorist organisation has drawn condemnation from activists and humanitarian organisations, who say it exemplifies an increasingly aggressive stance toward Palestinian solidarity movements.
Jo reflected that today’s student activism faces additional hurdles: rising tuition fees, less democratic student unions, expanded surveillance on campus and a higher cost of living, which, they said, make sustained campaigning more difficult.
Sheffield has numerous Palestinian networks, ranging from campaign groups to support groups.
City- and region-wide efforts are ongoing to divest the South Yorkshire Pension Authority from Barclays, a bank heavily associated with the arms industry and Israeli government bonds. Regular protests are being held against Sheffield’s growing arms infrastructure. There are also communal fundraisers for children’s services, hospitals, and aid in Gaza, which happen on a weekly basis. Nearly half a million pounds have been raised for Gaza in Sheffield since 2023.
The situation remains dire for Palestinian nationals left awaiting pathways to start their studies this September. With Israeli violence intensifying and little movement from higher education or governmental institutions, those lobbying for the protection of the students continue their work tirelessly.
