What is Highly Trusted Sponsorship?
The principle of sponsorship – whereby those who benefit most directly from the great contributions migrants make to the United Kingdom (employers and education institutions) are expected to play their part in ensuring our migration system is not abuse – is an integral part of the skilled, temporary work and student tiers of the Points Based System for managed migration.
The new Highly Trusted sponsor category is a further segmentation of the existing sponsor rating system designed to identify those sponsors who are achieving the highest levels of compliance with their sponsor obligations and whose students are showing the greatest compliance with the terms of their visa or leave.
Those holding a “Highly Trusted sponsor” licence will be granted additional freedoms and offered new services to recognise their previous track record of good compliance.
The new Tier 4 Highly Trusted sponsor licence will be launched on 6 April 2010 Sponsors under Tiers 2 and 5 will be able to apply later in the year.
A Highly Trusted sponsor licence will be awarded to sponsors who apply for a licence and can demonstrate full compliance with their sponsor duties over a period of time and who meet the criteria set out. There will be a number of benefits offered to sponsors who qualify as Highly Trusted.
Highly Trusted sponsors will be expected to meet the published Highly Trusted criteria throughout the period they are licensed as Highly Trusted.
Why is the Highly Trusted Sponsor Scheme being Introduced?
The Highly Trusted sponsors licence is designed as recognition of those sponsors who are achieving the highest levels of compliance with their sponsor obligations and whose students are showing the greatest compliance with the terms of their visa or leave.
By identifying those sponsors who are achieving high levels of compliance the UK Border Agency can both target their resources elsewhere on areas of higher risk, and can provide additional services and freedoms which recognise the good track record demonstrated by Highly Trusted sponsors thus far.
The Highly Trusted Sponsor scheme will cut red tape for sponsors who qualify and allow our systems to monitor the others more thoroughly.
Why should Schools and Colleges apply for a Highly Trusted Sponsor Licence?
There are a number of benefits to being a Highly Trusted sponsor. These are:
- the ability to offer a wider range of courses below degree level as follows:
- courses at National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level 3 (and equivalent); and
- courses below degree level (excluding foundation degrees) which include work placements;
- the ability to assign additional confirmation of acceptance for studies to students who have already undertaken two re-sits providing the re-sit has been approved via your internal panels and boards who authorise additional re-sits in exceptional circumstances. The UK Border Agency retains the right to seek further information if unusual patterns are detected in this area;
- a more flexible approach to reporting student non-attendance replacing the ’10 expected contacts’ requirement will be the ability to:
- report non-enrolments as per the current guidance;
- report any students who formally withdraw from their studies within 10 days as per the current guidance;
- undertake (at least) two further re-registrations, spaced evenly throughout the academic year and report withdrawals within 10 days of the re-registration process.
- account management provisions. Each sponsor account manager will manage a portfolio of sponsors and will act as a single point of contact with the assurance of at least one annual visit per year and the option for further services.
- The UK Border Agency will work with Highly Trusted sponsors in the coming months to identify further service offerings.
What are the Criteria for a Highly Trusted Sponsor Licence?
An application for a Tier 4 Highly Trusted sponsor licence will be assessed against nine criteria. Unless otherwise stated, the sponsor’s performance in the preceding 12 months will be measured against the nine criteria and values set out below:
- the sponsor must have a minimum of six months as an A (trusted) sponsor, must at the time of application be rated as A (trusted) for all tiers for which they hold a licence;
- the sponsor must have in place recruitment practices to ensure as far as possible genuine students only are accepted and issued with confirmation of acceptance for studies – UK Border Agency will expect sponsors to have acted upon the published guidance and ‘Tier 4 sponsor recruitment practices – Information Sharing’ where recruitment issues are identified;
- the sponsor must not have been issued with a civil penalty in the last three years and any civil penalty issued prior to that must have been paid in full;
- the sponsor must have in place practices to minimise the number of refusals of leave for migrants applying with a confirmation of acceptance for studies. The UK Border Agency are not publishing a target percentage rate for refusals at this time and will instead look at how far refusal rates deviate from the ‘norm’ for that location and part of the sector. The UK Border Agency expect to be able to publish a clearer statement of their expectations on refusals in due course.
- UKBA is concerned about the risk of those who seek to use the student route to enter the UK but have no intention to study. To minimise the occurrence of such abuse of the system, the sponsor must ensure potential students are vetted thoroughly before issuing a confirmation of acceptance for studies. The UK Border Agency expect no more than 2% of the total number of ‘students’ issued with entry clearance (or Leave to Remain) for the sponsoring institution and who have entered or remain in the UK to have not enrolled within 1 month of the course commencing.
- Once enrolled, the sponsor must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the students they sponsor will attend and complete their course of study. Please note that any sponsored students who have moved to a different institution, or who have definitely left the United Kingdom or who have applied to switch to a different immigration category are not included in this measure. This measure is cumulative against the original number enrolled as follows:
- more than 1% of those ceasing their course within 33% of the course duration;
- more than 2% of those ceasing their studies within 66% of their course duration;
- more than 3 % of those enrolled who have failed to complete their course;
- No more than 5% total number of students sponsored who have been granted leave under Tier 4, and, for those overseas, who have travelled to the UK, must have failed to enrol or failed to complete the course
- A sponsor must ensure attendance or progression monitoring is completed in accordance with their sponsor duties; and / or accreditation requirements.
- There must not have been any serious concerns raised following a UK Border Agency sponsor inspections in the previous 12 months.
This detailed look at the scheme follows our announcement of the launch of the Highly Trusted Sponsor Scheme on 22 March 2010.
Can you advise me what is BPP Law School Tier 4 license number
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please tellme that holborn college is suspended , if yes then , suggest me any one for Diploma in law,
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please tell me that
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please tell me that
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Dear Mr.Daniel,
I would like to know what would be the future of colleges which is not under highly trusted status??
They will be completely stopped from operating ???
I am planning to join with Kensington College for Business Studies to do my MBA in Travel, Tourism & Hospitality.
Would this college will be allowed to continue this course or more precisely does this course will come under the specialized course category as mentined in the Article realted to HTS..
Awaiting for your kind reply, to finalize my future plans to study in UK. OR Kindly advise me any other institution where I can find my preferred course.
Best Regards,
Ayisha Lara
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i just want to ask if its true that train4care is suspended?
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Yes Cess, it is true. Their licence was suspended on 9 September 2010.
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hi all
My query is i completed my BBA from one of london based college in 2008/, i got only the transcripts, as my college lost accreditation in middle of my studies and its not recognized by UKBA any more.
now in 2010 i applied in Highly Trusted University and i got the unconditional offer, and i did explain to university that i am in a situation, and they replied to me that we can mentioned this in my CAS letter that they access through my transcripts,
all i am thinking is how the visa officer look at this case, like i got the CAS letter but the admission is given on basis of my BBA and that collge is not in list,and even this college is not offering any more graduate programe,
will this effect ????
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is train4care is under suspension?
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Hello Danielle,
What is the minimum time that I can put in for a visa. I saw somewhere that it has to be no less than 3 months. I’m waiting for funding to hit the account soon and can’t apply three months ahead, maybe 2months and some. Is the ATAS number compulsary for science student?
Thanks-
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What happens when I submitted a bank certificate as evidence of maintenance funds contains an outstanding balance of 10,000 GBP which i kept 28 days prior to my application, but now I withdrawn money amounting to 1000 GBP, the required maintenance funds is only 5400 GBP because my school is outside London + my tuition fee is 2500 for NVQ 3. So the total amount I need should only be 7,900 GBP. I had 10,000 maintained to my account as shown in my Bank Certificate. Now, will it affect my ongoing application If I withdrawn some amount of money? Now I only have 9,000 GBp in my account… Look forward to hearing your reply.. Thank you…
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Dear Daniel
i am gald to find this web page
i would like to ask that i am from pakistan and i have completed my Marticulation 1 year ago and due to some reasons i could not start my studies.
as i have SSC Secondary School Certificate, i came to know that only highly trusted colleges from UK are allowd to give admission to the SSC level students, or the visa will be refused,
please tell me all about it you got
Thankyou
Shahid Hussain Shakir
Pakistan
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im now planning to pull out my application what should i do?
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Hi Darwin
You can fill out a simple form in order to withdrawn your visa application.
However, be advised that if you no longer wish to study with your sponsor and you have paid any money to them, you will not receive a refund. Check their terms and conditions to be sure.
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hi Daniel,
my application is still pending since feb 1st whats going on?
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Thank you Daniel…
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HI Daniel,
I have a question, what will happen if I lodged my application last Feb 1, with few rules yet was implemented. Now here comes the highly trusted sponsors listed. My college train4care is only on A rating. I have sent email to the Visa Bureau and they told me that my application is one of those under pending checks. Does this mean that they are still waiting for my sponsor to register as HIghly trusted? will my applciation be refused? I am so worried, I am already planning to pull out my application because I am already left behind…
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Hi Darwin
Your application should be judged on the rules in place at the time you paid and submitted your application.
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Hi Danieal
it seems you offering great help here .. so let me have a bit of it please .
i have applied for a NVQ level 3 dentail nursuing with (A) rated sponsor .. then i found out that this sort of courses is restrected for (A) sponsors .. but when i asked them about that they said : (because we are publicly funded or regulated by Ofsted, we have maintained the Highly Trusted status, but need to apply for the License that will replace the current Tier 4 License we hold, with this application we will submit student detail and attendance on a spreadsheet to acquire this license).
they also said : (When Highly Trusted sponsorship is launched on 6 April 2010 all publicly funded sponsors who are already rated A (trusted) and who are subject to a full institutional inspection by one of the following (QAA) , (OFSTED) and others , will by default be awarded the benefits of a Highly Trusted sponsor licence.
so can they offer such course despite they are (A) rated on the list untill now ??
sorry for taking so long , and thank you so much
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What’s the name of the college?
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hi daniel
i have read lots of your advices due to the concern of others.i would like to give it a try and ask you something. i from the philippines and i apply last feb 19 2010 my school is OVT college and it was remove if im not mistaked last march 8 2010.i was quite confuse coz the school is claiming to us that they are not suspended.they said it was a technical error in the system..could you help me?do you have any information about my school..i really appreciate your time and effort in answering my question..thank you so much.
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Hi Melliza
Their suspension is still on-going, which would not suggest a technical error.
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Hi Daniel could you let me know,if a college is trusted and A rated , however it is not a highly trusted institution. Is there any chance it will lose it’s licence in the near future?
Hamed
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Read how the Highly Trusted Sponsor Scheme will affect you and check the Highly Trusted Sponsors list for more details.
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Hi Daniel,
I applied in St. Patrick through a consultancy last Jan. 2010 and then suspension has been lifted. Last march 24 a representative of St. Patrick came to see us with the news that we couldn’t be listed on May intake because they are going to prioritize the January applicants that has been pending due to the new system and suspension and they are only few slots left. That is why I decided to apply directly to South London College. And now I got an offer letter for July intake. I got few concern in mind that bothers me before I continue my application and pay for my full tuition fee mandated by school I need some of your advice:
1. Am I going to get a VISA before classes start (July entry) where it said UKBA might be able to issue CAS by end of june because of the new launched system?
2. Do I need to wait for September intake til the office can fully issue the “Highly Trusted Sponsor Licensed” to schools so that my application would evade some delays on issuing CAS?
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Hi Daniel, I’m Anojan from Sri Lanka. First i like to say thanks to you for your helps and you are doing very fantastic job. You already answered my questions earlier, it helped me a lot. This time also i have a doubt about the Highly Trusted Sponsors Scheme.
I got admission at St Patrick’s College for the January intake. Due to the suspension i didn’t submit my student visa application. March 4th the suspension has been lifted by the UKBA and my college got the “B” rating as a sponsor. Now I’m waiting for my CAS to submit my student visa application for the May intake.
last week i read the details about the “Highly Trusted Sponsors Scheme”. According to the requirements of the highly trusted sponsor, my college has no chance to be in the list.Please clarify me,
According to the Highly Trusted Sponsor Scheme,
1. Will the highly trusted sponsor scheme affect me to get the student visa?
2. Is there any possibilities to refuse my student visa application?
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Hi Anojan
Thanks for your comments and glad to know I’ve been of help!
You will still be able to get a UK student visa with a sponsor who is just on the Register of Sponsors, but you should check the type of course to make sure it qualifies. In fact, your agent or the college should check this for you – it is their responsibility to make sure they comply with the rules.
None of this will matter to you if you make your application before the 6 April 2010.
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Hi,
NQF level 7 isn’t included right?
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This is stopping any legitimate new institution who are only offering L3 and L4 from obtaining Highly trusted Status. Is this not restrictive trading? They need to allow new institutions some flexibility to prove that they can be trusted, otherwise we will have no new Providers.
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