Since March 2009, international students (those with non-European passports) who wish to study in the UK have required ‘Tier 4’ visas under the Points Based System of immigration (PBS).
The Home Office Visa and Immigration Service requires us to ensure:
that the students we admit are qualified to study in the UK and that we retain evidence to prove this in the event of an audit
that these students remain engaged in their studies and that we notify the Home Office in a timely manner when they cease to do so.
Pre-arrival - Offers and CAS Requirements
When making an offer of a place to a Tier 4 Student the Home Office Visa and Immigration Service requires Institutions to consider certain criteria when assessing a student’s suitability to follow a course of study. In order to be compliant with Home Office regulations we must list these requirements on the CAS (Certificate of Acceptance for Studies). The CAS Processing Guidance and Work Placement spreadsheet will assist Admissions staff in completing the Visa CAS Request screens in eVision.
If you need to make any changes once you have generated the CAS, you can refer to the CAS Changes and Updates guidance for Undergraduate and Postgraduate admissions.
From 6th April 2013 the Home Office introduced further mandatory requirements when assessing whether a student is eligible for a Tier 4 Visa. These include the Cap which restricts the maximum number of years a student may study at a certain level in the UK and Progression which literally means the student must be continuing to a ‘higher level’ of course at each stage of education. For further details see theCap and Progression Guidance (PDF 231kb)
Managing Tier 4 Students Post Registration
In autumn 2012, the University began to revise its Home Office Tier 4 related policies and procedures, with the aim of achieving greater consistency of practice across the institution. The most significant change was the introduction of a monthly engagement monitoring requirement. In a nutshell:
schools are required to monitor the engagement of all Tier 4 International students on a monthly basis (engagement may be determined through attendance at a teaching event, submission of an assessment, etc) and report on this via e:Vision
faculties are required to investigate in cases where a student is not thought to be engaged
where this appears to be the case, the Academic Registrar or Deputy Registrar makes a decision on whether to notify the Home Office Visa and Immigration Service.
These policies and procedures were significantly revised as a result of risks and issues considered during the year.
We undertake School reviews on engagement monitoring over the course of the year to ensure compliance. Details of these can be found in the Tier 4 Engagement Monitoring Review Process document (PDF, 96.6 Kb)
Communications
In August 2013 the Academic Registry devised communication templates which can be used when communicating to both staff and students regarding our responsibilities to comply with the Home Office requirements for Tier 4 students post registration.
International students receive a short ‘leaflet’ explaining our obligations to the Home Office when they join the University: University of Bristol's Obligations to the UKBA (PDF, 175.5 Kb)
We are also working on enhancements to the student information system, SITS, to support the processes described above.
Management and Governance
The Academic Registrar has operational responsibility for Tier 4 student compliance. The Tier 4 Operations Group provides day-to-day coordination and advice to the Academic Registrar in this regard. The Tier 4 Compliance Board, chaired by the Deputy Registrar oversees this area of work.
Note: some of the documents on this page are in PDF format. In order to view a PDF you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader