Highly Trusted status replaced

As per our posting of 8th March 2015, on changes to be made  by the Home Office/UKVI to various elements, we wish to remind you that the following have come into  effect as of April 2015.


*'Highly Trusted Sponsor status' has been removed and all education establishments that already have a Tier 4 sponsor licensed will simply be known to have 'Tier 4 Sponsor status'.

Every 12 months, these educational establishments will be required to pass a Basic compliance Assessment test.

To pass this Basic Compliance test, educational sponsors must have:

• a refusal rate of less than 10%
• an enrolment rate of at least 90%; and
• a course completion rate of at least 85%.

Should any educational establishment fail this assessment, it is very likely that their Tier 4 licence will be revoked.  They will have to prove that they fall within the discretionary assessment criteria (issued less than 50 CAS in the assessment period or are classed as an independent school)

A result of the changes also mean that if a licence is revoked, the UKVI can then refuse to allow the sponsor back onto the Sponsor register for up to 24 months.
 

*A-rated sponsor status' has been replaced by 'Probationary Sponsor status:  Any educational establishments that apply for a Tier 4 sponsor licence, if the license is approved they will be known as ‘Probationary Sponsors’ for the first 11 months.

Probationary Sponsors will then need to pass a new Basic Compliance Assessment, in order to become an approved Tier 4 Sponsor.


*The student visitor (SVV) and extended student visitor routes are now known as SHORT TERM STUDY ROUTES  which will sit in Part 3 of the Immigration Rules alongside other study provisions.

The reason for this is to make the system clearer for those whose main purpose for coming to the UK is to study a short course up to six months or 11 months in the case of adults studying longer English language courses.