ASIC's first seminar proves a big hit

ASIC organised their first seminar on the new Points Based Visa System and the Sponsors Register in London on Tuesday 25th September, which was held at the Kensington College of Business and proved to be a real success.

With over 50 colleges and nearly 100 delegates, the seminar was fully booked early on and those that managed to secure a place found the seminar extremely useful.

The morning session was dedicated to Suzanne Barnes from the Border & Immigration Agency who spoke about the new Points Based Visa System and Sponsors Register. Time was also set aside for a questions and answers session and this proved to be very successful.

After lunch Prof. John Wilson (Head of Accreditation) spoke about ASIC's Accreditation Process, detailing the 3 Stages of Accreditation along with Maurice Dimmock (Chief Executive), who then went on to speak about Post Accreditation. This again was followed by a question and answers session. Mark Walmsley (Stakeholder Engagement Manager, UKvisas) also spoke in the afternoon.

ASIC have announced the new date for their next Points Based Visa System and the Sponsors Register Seminar. This seminar is taking place on Wednesday 31st October 2007 and will be held in The New Connaught Rooms, London.

The above seminar was both very well run and extremely informative. The majority of our candidates are from overseas and the information provided on Home Office policy in terms of visa applications and the International Graduate Scheme has given us a greater understanding and has enabled us to answer the many enquiries we receive on visa applications and the IGS (the latter of which I had very little knowledge of).
Our courses are run by Course Providers so the opportunity to attend this seminar has ensured that we are aware of what is ahead for our CP’s in terms of accreditation. We are now equipped to be able to offer assistance to our CP’s in gaining accreditation. The seminar also provided clarification on the role we will play in the accreditation process as the awarding body.
The day was very useful and I will be feeding the information back to our Professional Examinations Board when it meets next week.
Sally Cuss, Qualifications Co-ordinator (BCS Professional Exams)