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UNITED KINGDOM – Immigration White Paper: Key updates for student sponsors.
May 15, 2025
By: Kimberley Colthurst, UK Immigration Consultant, Newland Chase
On May 12, 2025, the UK government published its white paper, “Restoring Control Over the Immigration System”, which set out a range of measures it intends to introduce to the UK’s immigration system. The paper outlines further plans to reduce net migration, despite visa numbers already being down 40 percent since the current Labour government took office. The proposals are underpinned by five core principles, including stricter oversight of sponsors, a greater focus on upskilling settled workers, and promoting integration and community cohesion. You can find a copy of the published paper here.
What this means for student sponsors.
The white paper proposes the following changes for student sponsors:
- To raise the minimum pass threshold for each Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) metric by five percentage points. For example, sponsors must maintain a course enrolment rate of at least 95 percent and a course completion rate of 90 percent to pass the compliance threshold.
- To introduce a new Red-Amber-Green (RAG) banding system to rate each sponsor’s BCA performance. This will make it clearer to sponsors, the Home Office, and the public which institutions are achieving a high rate of compliance, and which are at risk of failing.
- To implement targeted interventions for sponsors close to failing their BCA metrics, including:
- Bespoke action plans to improve compliance, and
- Limits on the number of new international students that may be recruited while the sponsor is under review.
- To mandate participation in the Agent Quality Framework for any sponsor using recruitment agents for overseas students. This is designed to promote high standards in agent oversight and ensure sponsors remain accountable for the students they recruit.
While these measures are not yet in force, they are indicative of the government’s policy direction and may become relevant to sponsor duties in future.
Relevance to current sponsor compliance obligations.
Currently, these proposals do not directly affect the sponsor compliance steps to be taken in relation to the upcoming acquisition. That said, it does highlight the importance of maintaining clear oversight of student records, attendance, and course progression across both schools once the acquisition is complete. If applicable, schools may also wish to review current use of recruitment agents and prepare for a more formal process in future.
We are monitoring developments and will flag any changes that may require action once formal rules are introduced via a Statement of Changes. Please send a message to [email protected] to discuss specific impacts these changes are expected to have on schools.
This immigration update is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal or scenario-specific advice. Furthermore, it is important to note that immigration announcements are subject to sudden and unexpected changes. Readers are encouraged to reach out to Newland Chase for any case- or company-specific assessments.
