From Tawjihi to UK Campus: An Undergraduate Guide for Students in Gaza

If you’re reading this from Gaza or elsewhere in Palestine, you’ve probably lived through things no student should ever experience: two years of airstrikes, displacement, tents instead of classrooms, and the deliberate destruction of schools and universities. UN and humanitarian agencies now describe Gaza’s education system as being on the edge of collapse, with almost all schools and every university damaged or destroyed.

And yet, you’re still thinking about university. That is powerful. This guide is for you: a simple “UK education 101” written with your reality in mind.

1. How your schooling compares to the UK’s

In Palestine, you usually do 12 years of school and then sit Tawjihi, the General Secondary Education Certificate. Tawjihi is the big exam that decides where and what you can study.

In the UK, students normally:

• Finish school after 13 years (up to “Year 13”).
• Take A-levels or similar qualifications (like BTECs) in their last two years.

For you, this means:

• Tawjihi is generally recognised as an entry qualification.
• Depending on your grades and how disrupted your last years were, UK universities might:
  • Offer you direct entry to a bachelor’s degree, or
  • Suggest a foundation year first – a one-year course to fill gaps in subject knowledge or English and prepare you for university life.

If you’ve already started university in Gaza, some UK universities may also consider giving you credit for those courses, especially if you can show syllabi or transcripts (even partial ones).

2. How applications work (and why your story matters)

Most students apply through a central system called UCAS – a website where you choose courses and send one application that goes to several universities.

UCAS and universities look at:

• Your grades (Tawjihi and any university marks).
• A personal statement – a short essay about what you want to study and why.
• A reference – usually from a teacher or lecturer.

If your school or university has been bombed, records lost, or teachers displaced, say that clearly. The last two years have not been “normal schooling” for anyone in Gaza; you are allowed to explain that your grades sit inside a context of siege, blackouts and displacement. Many universities are learning to accept scans, screenshots or provisional documents when originals are impossible to get.

Tip: when you can, keep digital copies of anything related to your education (certificates, transcripts, recommendation letters) in email or cloud storage. Even photos of papers are better than nothing.

3. What studying feels like in the UK

You might be used to big lectures, a lot of memorisations, and huge final exams. In the UK, learning is often more mixed:

• Lectures – big classes where the teacher explains key ideas.
• Seminars or tutorials – small groups where you discuss readings, ask questions, and sometimes disagree (politely!) with the teacher.
• Coursework – essays, presentations, lab reports and projects that count towards your final grade, not just one exam.

There is also something called office hours: regular times when you can visit or email your lecturer to ask questions privately. It’s okay to say, “I don’t understand this” – that’s literally what those hours are for.

You may feel shy at first, especially if English is not your first language and your mind is still half in Gaza. That’s normal. Your discipline and determination – surviving study in war, learning during blackouts – are strengths many UK students don’t have.

4. Support you have a right to, not charity

UK universities usually have:

• Academic support – writing centres, study skills workshops, language help.
• Wellbeing and counselling services – free, confidential mental health support.
• Student societies – including Palestinian, Arab and Muslim societies where you can speak your language, pray, cook, laugh and grieve with others who understand.

Given what you’ve lived through, using these services is not a sign of weakness. It is part of your rights as a student – especially in a context where UN experts have warned of “scholasticide” and genocidal violence against Gaza’s students and teachers.

5. What you can do now, even under siege

Depending on electricity and internet, you might try to:

• Build your English through free apps, YouTube, films with subtitles or online conversation groups.
• Write your “education story” in Arabic: what you studied, what you love, what you dream of. Later this can become your personal statement in English.
• Save digital copies of any certificates or documents whenever you can.
• Follow UK universities and scholarship programmes on social media to catch opportunities.
• Connect with Palestinians already studying in the UK – they can become your guides and advocates.

Even if the world is trying to close doors on you, you are allowed to keep planning for a future where they open. Studying in the UK is not just about getting a foreign degree; it can be one way of protecting your mind, your dreams and your story from a genocide that has already taken too much.

If you sometimes feel guilty for dreaming of a life outside Gaza while your family and friends remain under attack, please know this: seeking education is not abandoning your people. Every book you read, every skill you gain, every qualification you earn can become a form of resistance to the idea that Palestinians are only meant to survive, not to thrive. Your success does not erase your pain; it gives you more tools to speak, to rebuild and to support others in the future. So, take this guide as a starting point, not a final map. Ask questions. Reach out to people and organisations. Let others help you carry the load. Somewhere, on a campus far from the tents and rubble, there is a classroom with an empty chair that could be yours. You have every right to imagine yourself sitting in it.