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Key elements of the new system

  1. You must have a licence.
  2. You must comply with your sponsorship duties.
  3. From the end of March 2009, you must issue a visa letter to each non-EEA student to enable them to apply for a new visa or extension. This will be replaced by a confirmation of acceptance for studies when sponsors start using the sponsorship management system to issue confirmation of acceptance for studies later in 2009.
  4. You will use the sponsorship management system to issue and pay for each confirmation of acceptance for studies, and to fulfil your reporting duties.

 

Key dates

We are introducing the new student route of the points-based system in phases after consultation with the sector. The phases are explained in the tier 4 implementation plan.

Date Activity
2 February 2009 All education providers must have applied to become licensed sponsors if they want to bring in non-EEA students from the end of March 2009
End of March 2009 All students must apply under tier 4 and pass a points-based assessment
Autumn 2009

Sponsors begin using  the sponsorship management system to issue confirmations of acceptance for studies for students applying from inside the United Kingdom in two stages:

  • switching from another tier or route, to extend their stay;
  • extending their current student visa.
February 2010 Sponsorship management system is fully implemented for the issue of confirmation of acceptance for studies to students applying from both inside and outside the United Kingdom


 

The sponsor licence

Education providers who want to be able to sponsor students should apply as soon as possible. Students begin applying under tier 4 when applications open at the end of March, and education providers must apply for a licence no later than 2 February 2009 to allow us time to process the application and issue a licence by the end of March.
 
Applications will still be accepted after this date, but we cannot guarantee that a licence will be issued by the time tier 4 applications open.
 
Education providers cannot bring students to the United Kingdom without a licence after the end of March.

To get a sponsor licence, you must:

  • be able to show that you are  inspected, audited or accredited by one of the UK Border Agency's approved bodies;
  • allocate a number of key roles to staff using the sponsorship management system;
  • be able to comply with your sponsorship duties;
  • have the appropriate HR systems in place to be able to monitor your students' attendance, when the reporting functionality in the sponsorship management system is rolled out for education providers later in 2009.

You will be given an A or B rating and added to the tier 4 register of sponsors. Find out more about ratings in How we manage sponsors and ratings.

 

Sponsorship duties

Your sponsorship duties include duties like:

  • maintaining any appropriate accreditation;
  • keeping copies of all students' passports;
  • keeping up-to-date  contact details for students;
  • reporting any unauthorised absences to us or if the student fails to enrol on their course or telling us if a student stops their studies.

You will use the sponsorship management system to fulfil your reporting duties when the reporting functionality goes live later in 2009.
 
Find a full list of all sponsorship duties.

 

The visa letter or confirmation of acceptance for studies

To bring non-EU students to the United Kingdom from March 2009, you must issue students with a visa letter. This is only if you are giving the student an unconditional offer. If they apply successfully, the student's visa will then be linked to your institution. Find draft visa letter for general students..

From autumn 2009, sponsors will start issuing confirmation of acceptance for studies (which is a unique reference number) instead of visa letters, using the sponsorship management system. Each confirmation of acceptance for studies will cost ?10.

Students can have as many visa letters or confirmation of acceptance for studies from institutions they have applied to, but can use only one visa letter (or confirmation of acceptance for studies) to apply.

Students will be awarded 30 points for a visa letter or confirmation of acceptance for studies, and must score 10 points for maintenance (fees and living expenses) to pass the points-based assessment, and be able to apply.

 

The sponsorship management system

Education providers can currently use the sponsorship management system to update their contact details. In the autumn of 2009, education providers will start using the sponsorship management system to issue confirmation of acceptance for studies and report student activity, before full implementation in February 2010. We are working with key stakeholders on the phased approach. The tier 4 implementation plan explains the phases.

 

Key benefits of the new system

  • the sponsor licence ensures all colleges are genuine and eliminates bogus institutions;
  • sponsors are responsible for assessing whether a student meets the academic requirements for the course;
  • the student's visa is linked to the institution;
  • depending on what has been studied, if students want to stay on in the United Kingdom once they have successfully got their qualification, they may be eligible to switch into the post-study worker category of tier 1.

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