ASIC Points Based Visa System and the Sponsors Register Seminar

Wednesday 11th June 2008

As you will be aware, the Government has announced a mandatory new requirement for educational establishments wishing to bring in international students under the Points Based System (PBS) which is set to be introduced for students early in 2009.

In its Command paper "A Points Based System: Making Migration Work for Britain" published in March last year the Government made it clear that "..for Tier 4(Students), a prospective sponsor will need to demonstrate that they are a bona fide educational institution accredited by a recognised body". The announcement confirms what exactly is meant by accreditation and what institutions without it will need to do in order to qualify as sponsors under Tier 4.

I am pleased to inform you that ASIC (Accreditation Service for International Colleges) has been approved by the Home Office, Border & Immigration Agency to undertake accreditation of private colleges regarding the new points based visa system for inclusion on the sponsors register.

In response to this ASIC have organised a very practical workshop to inform colleges on the detail of the PBS and the sponsors register, and to assist them in their preparation for accreditation.

Frequently asked Questions

Who Should Attend? Any college who intend to recruit international students to the UK and are not already accredited by BAC or Accreditation UK (British Council).
I am only a small college, do I still need accreditation? The short answer to this is YES you do. However, ASIC appreciate the problems facing smaller colleges and we are able to give you the support you need.
I am a new College, without any students at the moment, how do I get accreditation? We are able to take you through stages 1 and 2 and award an initial accreditation which will be sufficient for you to recruit students. This would then need to be ratified within a prescribed period of time.
I am a college already accredited by British Council but we also run Academic programmes, do I need accreditation? Yes, but it will be a short form accreditation and will concentrate on the areas not covered by British Council.

• Date: Wednesday 11th June 2008
• Venue: Limkokwing Academy of Creative Technology, London.
• Fee: £50 per person (to include Tea/Coffee & Lunch)

Please complete the Booking Form below as soon as possible and make sure that you fax it back to us to guarantee your place, as our last four seminars have been fully booked. On completion of the form and receipt of workshop fee, joining instructions will be forwarded to you.

As mentioned in the Border & Immigration Agency news release, this new scheme will come into operation in January 2008 and all colleges must be included in the sponsors register by Jan 2009. This may seem a long way of but there are over 1800 colleges needed to be accredited. We therefore advise you seek accreditation as soon as possible as we are already accrediting colleges for the purposes of the sponsors register.

This workshop will give you the latest information regarding the New Points Based Visa system coming into operation in 2009 as part of the "Making Migration Work for Britain" Agenda.

It will look in depth at the PBS and the purpose and operation of the Sponsors Register. The afternoon session will focus on the role of accreditation and the ASIC approach to accreditation with an in-depth look at the accreditation process with advice on what makes a successful application. We will also point out the major areas the inspectors will be looking out for.

For more details of the accreditation service offered by ASIC together with further, detailed information on PBS and the sponsors register, please refer to our web site www.asic.org.uk. The ASIC Application Form and Accreditation Handbook may also be downloaded directly from the web site.

Programme

10.30	Registration.
10.45	Welcome. Maurice Dimmock, Chief Executive of ASIC
11.00	The Points Based Visa System, Sponsors Register and the Role of Ofsted. Sharon Spink, Home Office Account Manager
12.00	Questions and Discussion
12.30	Tea/Coffee & Lunch
13.15	Introduction to ASIC. Maurice Dimmock CE ASIC
13.30	The Accreditation Process. Prof. John Wilson, Head of Accreditation
14.30	Accreditation Pitfalls. Maurice Dimmock, Prof John Wilson and other ASIC colleagues
14.45	Post Accreditation. Maurice Dimmock CE ASIC
15.00	Questions & Answers. Mark Walmsley, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, UKvisas
15.30	Close

To download the Booking Form please click on the link below or alternatively, right click the link below and then left click on Save Target As, and then choose a location on your computer to save the file.

Institution Booking Form (Word Document)

Institution Booking Form (PDF Format)

The above file is in pdf format. If you do not have Adobe Reader on your machine, you can download it for free at