UAE cuts UK from scholarship funding over extremism concerns

The United Arab Emirates has restricted funding for its students wishing to study at British universities over concerns about extremism on campuses. 

A list of eligible universities where students from the UAE can receive scholarships for study in the coming academic year has been published and notably excludes all UK institutions.

The scholarships, which do cover universities in the US, Australia and across the rest of Europe, provide students with generous funds to cover both tuition fees, as well as a monthly stipend to cover basic living expenses while they study abroad.

According to reporting in The Times and Financial Times, all UK funding has been limited because of concerns over the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood on UK campuses, which is proscribed as a terrorist group in the UAE.

People familiar with the situation told the FT that the exclusion was not an “oversight”, but that the UAE did not want its students to become “radicalised” while studying at British institutions.

The UAE has long campaigned for the Muslim Brotherhood to receive the same status in the UK and across Europe, but a previous 2015 government review – led by John Jenkins, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia – concluded that while the group “promoted a radical [and] transformative politics”, it stopped short of banning the group.

The exclusion of UK institutions does not prevent Emirati students from studying in the UK, and those who are able to self-fund will still be able to apply. 

According to figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the number of UAE students studying in the UK doubled between 2017 and 2024 to 8,500.

The University of Lancashire had the highest number of students, followed by the universities of Manchester and Leeds, King’s College London and UCL.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com