Student sponsor licence changes

Sometimes a sponsor institution decides to, or needs to, make changes to the way it is owned or the way it operates as a business. It may merge with another existing institution or divide itself (de-merge) into separate institutions of varying size. It may take over another institution or get taken over in full/part by another institution.  These situations are not common, but they can happen occasionally. 

When significant business changes happen for a Student sponsor, it can be unsettling and unnerving for the staff who work at that institution and for the students who study there. If an institution is taken over in full or in part by another organisation, students may be transferred to that other organisation. Alternatively, if an institution decides to carry out a de-merger, students may be transferred to one of the other organisations created as part of that dividing.   

Your sponsor institution must act carefully if it undergoes any such significant change in its business circumstances. All sponsors must follow prescriptive guidance written for them by the Home Office. This guidance is available online and is called the ‘Student sponsor guidance’. There are five separate guidance documents each outlining different requirements your sponsor needs to follow. Your institution is required by this Sponsor guidance to report a merger, takeover, de-merger, change of ownership and all similar changes to the Home Office in appropriate timescales.  

Document 2 of the sponsor guidance (titled 'Sponsorship duties’) assures us that:  

“[a] student studying at an organisation involved in a merger, de-merger or takeover does not need to apply for new permission to stay and the new sponsor does not have to assign a new CAS ”.   

This means that if you hold Student permission with a sponsor that is undergoing, or about to undergo, a merger/de-merger/takeover, you should not normally need to take any personal action. You also do not need to notify the Home Office about your institution’s changes – that is for your institution to do. Your Student permission would usually only be affected if the sponsor(s) involved do not follow published guidance provided by the Home Office. This is very unlikely however, as institutions that sponsor students on the Student route are aware of their responsibilities to their students and the Home Office. In any situation such as a merger/de-merger/takeover, your sponsor will likely be communicating with you via email about the changes so it is important to check your emails regularly for updates. However, if you are concerned about what that may mean for you and your Student immigration permission, ask to speak to a member of staff in the international student advice or compliance team at your institution.   

Student sponsors must comply with rules and guidance set out by the Home Office and UKVI. Failure to comply with these rules can lead to consequences for the sponsor’s licence, and therefore, potentially their ability to sponsor students that require a Student visa. 

UKVI outline some of the requirements for compliance in their Student sponsor guidance, specifically “Student Sponsor Guidance: Document 3: Student sponsor compliance”. UKVI outline that where non-compliance has taken place, there are two potential ‘Compliance Tracks’ that they may choose to follow to address their concerns with the sponsor. Compliance Track 1 is normally where an “isolated or minor breach of the sponsor guidance” has occurred.  

If you are a Student at a Student sponsor currently being investigated by UKVI under Compliance Track 1, you are unlikely to know this, and it is not likely to impact your immigration permission or your student experience. Your Student sponsor may be required to follow a prescribed action plan set out by UKVI which is designed to address the concerns, but this is unlikely to affect you. Student sponsors in this situation remain able to sponsor Students, assign CAS, offer CAS to new students, and will remain on the register of licensed Student sponsors.  

The following sections focus on more serious compliance breaches. They are consequences of actions taken under Compliance Track 2 by UKVI and are likely to have an impact on you as a Student at the Student sponsor in question.