In August 2025, Mahmoud, a 27-year-old doctor working in central Gaza, was waiting for an answer that could transform his future. After treating trauma patients during a night shift at a field hospital, he learned that the UK government was working to help him leave Gaza so he could take up a fully funded Chevening scholarship for a master's degree in global health policy at the London School of Economics.
Mahmoud was one of nine students in Gaza awarded Chevening Scholarships, the UK government's international scholarship program. The opportunity offered a route back into formal academic life after nearly two years of war, but at the time it did not guarantee that the students could safely leave Gaza or reach Britain.
The UK government said it was working to support the scholars' departure. The practical obstacles included securing permission to leave Gaza, arranging onward travel through a third country, completing immigration requirements and biometric checks, and coordinating with authorities involved in the students' movement.
For Mahmoud and other scholarship holders, the uncertainty carried another cost: leaving could mean separating from relatives who remained in Gaza. Their situation illustrated a broader dilemma facing Palestinian students and academics who had obtained overseas university places while their families remained exposed to displacement, shortages and continuing hostilities.
Education in Gaza After Extensive Destruction
The scholars' individual stories unfolded against severe damage to Gaza's education system. A June 2025 report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry documented widespread destruction and damage to educational facilities.
The Commission reported that, between October 7, 2023 and February 25, 2025, 403 of Gaza's 564 school buildings had been directly hit and damaged. It said 85 were completely destroyed and 73 had lost at least half of their structures. The same report said higher-education facilities had also been damaged or destroyed, affecting about 87,000 university students, and that more than 57 university buildings had been completely destroyed by March 25, 2025.
The Commission also reported that more than 190 university academic staff had been killed by that date. It concluded that Israeli forces had committed violations of international law in attacks on educational, religious and cultural sites. Israel has disputed allegations that its military deliberately targets civilian infrastructure as such and has said its operations are directed against Hamas and other armed groups, which it accuses of operating in and around civilian facilities. The legal characterization of particular attacks depends on the circumstances and evidence surrounding each incident.
A later UN-linked satellite assessment using imagery collected on July 8, 2025 found that 97% of Gaza's school buildings had sustained some level of damage. It estimated that 518 of 564 school buildings, or 91.8%, would require either full reconstruction or major rehabilitation to become functional again.
The term "scholasticide" has been used by some UN experts, academics and advocacy organizations to describe the large-scale destruction of educational institutions in Gaza. It is a characterization used by those sources rather than a universally established legal classification.
A Scholarship With No Simple Route Out
Another Chevening scholar, Mohammed, a 25-year-old aspiring epidemiologist who had secured a place at the University of Glasgow, described receiving his scholarship offer while living amid displacement and unreliable internet access. For students in his position, winning a scholarship was only the first step. Leaving Gaza required a process largely outside their control.
At the time, the UK government had no functioning visa application center inside Gaza. Officials therefore had to develop arrangements that would allow selected students to leave the territory and complete the necessary immigration procedures.
The problem was not simply a conventional visa delay. Movement out of Gaza depended on security conditions, border arrangements and cooperation among multiple authorities. The UK government repeatedly described the situation on the ground as extremely challenging and initially offered no guarantee that every scholarship holder would be able to leave in time for the academic year.
For the students, the uncertainty was intertwined with concern for relatives. Mahmoud described the prospect of leaving as a rare academic opportunity while acknowledging how difficult it would be to depart when his family remained exposed to the war and repeated displacement.
Other Scholarship Holders Waited for Help
The original announcement covered nine Chevening scholars, but they were not the only Gaza residents holding places at British universities. Other students had secured university-funded or charitable scholarships and were also seeking assistance to leave.
Among them was Manar, an English teacher and mother who had pursued an opportunity to undertake doctoral research at the University of Glasgow. Like other academics in Gaza, she had continued working on applications despite displacement, damaged infrastructure, power shortages and unreliable communications.
The distinction between Chevening recipients and other scholarship holders became a significant concern for universities, academics and campaigners. They argued that students with other fully funded places faced many of the same practical barriers even though the government's initial arrangements focused on the nine Chevening scholars.
The policy subsequently expanded. In September 2025, the UK government said it would support not only Chevening scholars but also students in Gaza holding verified, fully funded scholarships covering tuition and living costs. Home Office arrangements included expedited visa processing, security checks and biometric enrollment before travel to the UK.
What Happened Next
The uncertainty surrounding the August announcement did not remain unresolved. On September 22, 2025, the UK government confirmed that a cohort of students had been helped out of Gaza and would arrive in Britain to take up university places. The group included Chevening recipients as well as students with other fully funded undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships.
The government said it had worked with Israeli authorities to facilitate the students' departure and had conducted biometric checks before they traveled to Britain. Contemporary reporting put the arriving cohort at 34 students.
The development meant that the nine Chevening scholars' situation had moved beyond the tentative promise described in the original August story: the evacuation effort ultimately produced a route to the UK for them and additional fully funded students.
Questions about families, however, remained important. UK immigration rules did not automatically permit every international student to bring a spouse or children, and the eligibility of dependants varied according to the student's course, sponsorship and immigration circumstances. Some scholarship holders therefore faced the prospect of leaving close relatives behind even after securing permission to travel.
The government's later Home Office guidance for Gaza scholarship students provided for eligible dependants under the Immigration Rules and detailed the security, biometric and visa procedures applying to students whose departure the government supported.
The Issue Continued Beyond the 2025 Cohort
The evacuation of the 2025 scholarship holders did not end the underlying problem. Students in Gaza continued to obtain overseas university offers while facing severe restrictions on travel and a heavily damaged domestic education system.
By 2026, the UK had established a further process for eligible Gaza students with fully funded scholarships for the 2026-27 academic year. Government guidance updated in July 2026 said Chevening scholars and students with verified fully funded scholarships would again be prioritized for support to try to leave Gaza, subject to immigration requirements, security checks and the practical ability to arrange their departure.
The continuing program underscored the central issue exposed by the original group of scholars: an academic offer and full financial support do not by themselves create a viable route out of a conflict zone. For Gaza's students, access to education abroad has depended on border access, immigration procedures, diplomatic coordination and decisions affecting whether family members can accompany them.
At the same time, the scale of destruction inside Gaza has made the preservation of academic expertise particularly consequential. Students such as Mahmoud and Mohammed described their studies not simply as an opportunity to leave, but as preparation for careers they hoped could eventually contribute to rebuilding health, education and other institutions damaged during the war.
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