By Lee Bartlett, Senior Manager, & Naomi Goldshtein, Manager, with research by Jonathan Hill, Senior Consultant, Fragomen Worldwide With a large number of students studying in the UK being non-EU nationalities, the importance of obtaining and sustaining a UK Tier 4 Sponsor Licence holds extra significance.
The following article examines the main issues relating to the UK Tier 4 (Child) sponsor licence and the responsibilities imposed on sponsors in respect of its maintenance.
A UK Tier 4 sponsor licence is a licence issued by the UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) which allows an educational institution to recruit international students to study a full-time course in the UK.
There are two categories of licence, Tier 4 (Child) and Tier 4 General. A Tier 4 (Child) licence should be obtained for an institution to sponsor international students who are between the ages of 4-17 years old who come to the UK for their education. Tier 4 (Child) students may only be educated at independent schools. A Tier 4 General licence should be obtained to sponsor international students who are aged 16 years old or over who come to the UK for their post-16 education (NQF level 3 or above).
In order to obtain a UK Tier 4 (Child) licence an institution must first have achieved their educational oversight with the relevant body (normally for Independent Schools this will be the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) and have achieved the required rating. Once the institution has obtain this they are able to apply for a UK Tier 4 (Child) sponsor licence which can be submitted via an online system called Sponsor Management System. The fee for applying for a UK Tier 4 licence is £536.
As part of the applications process a sponsor will be required to allocate three key roles which are;
Authorising Officer – This is the named individual who is responsible for the actions of staff and representatives who use the Sponsor Management System (SMS), and takes overall responsibility of the licence. It is the individual who will be accountable at the School level to the UKVI for the performance of the Sponsor Licence.
Key Contact – The main point of contact with UKVI about the institution’s application.
Level 1 user – responsible for all day-to-day management of the licence using the SMS.
As well as allocating the above roles, when applying for a Tier 4 (Child) licence the institution will also be required to state how many students they anticipate to sponsor over the coming 12 month period.
The institution is likely to be visited by the UKVI once making their Tier 4 licence application, and therefore the institution should be aware of their sponsor duties, specifically being able to evidence sufficient processes to:
Additional responsibilities are also imposed on Tier 4 (Child) sponsors in respect of being able to evidence any due diligence completed in respect of student’s welfare when residing in the UK with a host family.
Further details regarding these duties can be found via the following link; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sponsor-a-tier-4-student-guidance-for-educators
Once a School has obtained their Tier 4 (Child) licence they are required to continue to meet their sponsor duties and the requirements set by the UKVI. Should a school fail systematically to meet any of their obligations as a Tier 4 sponsor the UKVI are likely to suspended or revoke their licence.
There are many reasons for which a sponsor’s licence can be suspended or revoked however the most common reason at present is in relation to the Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA). BCA is an assessment made against each sponsor on an annual basis by the UKVI and effectively determines if the sponsor is operating within the Tier 4 requirements. This assessment focuses on three key areas which are; enrolment rate, refusal rate (visa applications) and course completion rate. If a sponsor does not meet the set levels for each of these areas the UKVI may then take compliance action against the sponsor which may result in their licence being suspended, or even revoked. We are often approached by Schools that are close to failing their BCA requirements. A common failure seen is when a BCA visa refusal rate for the Tier 4 sponsor is approaching 10%. If a sponsor has a BCA visa refusal rating at 10% or above, meaning that more than 10% of all the applications that they have sponsored have been refused, this would result in their sponsor licence being suspended or even revoked. It should be noted that the Tier 4 sponsor guidance makes specific provision for UKVI to take a discretionary view in this circumstance where fewer than 50 Tier 4 Child students have been sponsored or where the institution in question is an Independent School. However, such a position is not guaranteed and there is still a possibility that some Schools in this situation will have their licence revoked.
A UK Tier 4 licence for some Schools is invaluable as without the recruitment of students from overseas these Schools would simply not be able to operate in their current form. The international student market generates a huge amount of income for the UK economy and therefore if a sponsor lost their licence and their ability to recruit overseas students their income would be significantly reduced. Losing a sponsor licence can also attract media interest and therefore there is reputation damage to also think about. Finally, the inability to recruit International Students may also have a detrimental impact on the overall student experience.
From a students point of view, if an institution sponsors international students and their licence is revoked whilst the student is studying, at the point of the licence being revoked, all overseas sponsored students would be required to cease their studies and either find another sponsor, or leave the UK to return home.
You can check if an institution holds a Tier 4 licence by visiting this webpage
If you require any further information or advice regarding applying for, or maintaining a Tier 4 sponsor licence please don’t hesitate to contact Fragomen LLP’s dedicated Tier 4 team
Tier4Enquiries@Fragomen.com
www.fragomen.com