Under the UK’s immigration rules, only education providers with a valid student visa sponsor licence (previously known as Tier 4 sponsor licence) can sponsor international students to study in the UK. Once licenced, schools and universities can issue a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) to eligible international students, allowing them to apply for a UK student visa from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).

There are two types of student sponsor licences available in the UK; one is designed for international students who are aged 16 or over, and the other is for international child students aged between 4 and 17 who will be attending an independent school.

When an education provider is first granted a student visa sponsor licence, they become a ‘probationary sponsor’. Probationary student sponsors have more restrictions placed on them than full student sponsors. For example, students sponsored under a Probationary licence cannot undertake work placements if their course is below degree level.

Student sponsor licences are normally issued for a period of 4 years, at which point they can be renewed before expiring. If a student sponsor licence is not renewed (extended), then the education provider cannot continue to sponsor existing international students or recruit new international students.

UK student visa sponsor requirements

To secure a student visa sponsor licence, education providers must meet a number of requirements, as follows:

The education provider and all of its sites must meet the Student Educational Oversight requirement
The provider must be a genuine educational institution that is operating lawfully in the UK
Key Personnel and individuals involved in the day-to-day running of the organisation or any of its sites must have complied with the Immigration Rules and sponsor guidance in the past, and
The provider must have systems, policies, and processes in place to enable it to meet its sponsor duties.

The student sponsor licence requirements set out above are not exhaustive. To check if your educational establishment meets all of the requirements for a UK student visa sponsor licence, please speak to one of immigration lawyers for tailored advice.

Educational Oversight requirement

Education providers applying for a student sponsor licence are required to demonstrate that all of their sites meet acceptable educational quality standards. This is determined by an Educational Oversight body appropriate to the type of educational establishment. For example, HEPs are overseen by the Office for Students, whereas private providers are typically overseen by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI).

Key personnel

UKVI will check to ensure that any key personnel assigned to manage the student sponsorship process do not have any unspent criminal convictions or prior civil penalties for immigration offences or have previously come to the notice of the Home Office for potential investigation.

Your key personnel include the following:

Authorising officer – this is a senior and competent person who is responsible for the actions of staff and representatives who use the SMS
Key contact – this is the main point of contact with UKVI
Level 1 user – L1 users are responsible for all day-to-day management of your licence using the SMS and
Level 2 user – L2 users have more restricted permissions than a level 1 user

Systems to meet sponsor duties

Student sponsors must have in place the necessary systems and processes to ensure that they can carry out the necessary checks on prospective students and meet their legal, reporting, record-keeping and monitoring requirements.

How to apply for a student visa sponsor licence

There are several steps involved in applying for a student visa sponsor licence:

Ensure that you meet the requirements of a student sponsor
Ensure that you meet acceptable education standards – this can be achieved by having a student educational oversight inspection or a statutory education inspection and achieving the required rating.
Decide on the Key Personnel who will be responsible for maintaining the Home Office’s Sponsorship Management System (SMS). This will enable you to issue CASs and provide updated information on sponsored students to the Home Office.
Determine how many students you will sponsor in the first year of your licence.
Complete and submit the online application form
Pay the application fee
Print and post the submission sheet to UKVI, and
Submit any documents/evidence to UKVI to support your application.

As explained above, if your application is approved, you will receive probationary student sponsor status and emailed a login for the SMS.

Time is of the essence for schools and universities seeking to sponsor overseas students for the new year of student intake. To ensure that your student licence application is received on your first attempt and without delay, please speak to our immigration lawyers for tailored advice.

What to do if student sponsor licence application is refused

Student sponsor licence applications may be refused for a number of reasons, including:

Previous breaches of the immigration rules
Prior criminality
Not completing the application process correctly
Concerns of illegality or that the school is not genuine
Not having the correct systems and processes in place to meet the sponsorship duties
Missing information from the application or not providing the required documentation and
Not meeting the Student Educational Oversight requirement

It is important to remember that if a student sponsor licence has been refused, you cannot appeal the decision. In addition, you will have to wait for a further 6 months before you can reapply. Furthermore, if the application is refused due to a civil penalty or your student sponsor licence was previously revoked, it may take up to 2 years for you to reapply. This is why it is so important to ensure that your application is correct on the first attempt.