Question 1

What is a 'guardian'?

Accepted Answer

An adult or company in the UK who is appointed by a parent to be their representative while their child studies here.

Question 2

Is it a legal requirement in the UK to have a UK education guardian if a parent is not living here?

Accepted Answer

No, there is no UK law that relates to international students at UK boarding schools. However, Child Student Visa forms and ask parents to provide details of their educational guardian and most UK Boarding Schools insist upon it in order to uphold their National Minimum Standards for Boarding (NMS).

Question 3

Where does Bright World offer guardianship?

Accepted Answer

Our UK Guardianship Programme is a service offered to students at UK boarding schools across the UK from as far north as Scotland and as far west as Cornwall and Wales. You can look for your school on our School Search page - see the button at the top of this screen.

Question 4

Will my Bright World guardian be my child's legal guardian?

Accepted Answer

No. A legal guardian is appointed by a court of law when a child does not have a parent. An educational or "education guardian" is an adult or company in the UK who is appointed by a parent to be their representative while their child studies here.

Question 5

Can you provide a UK host family?

Accepted Answer

An important part of our job is to find a host family for your child during holiday times when they have to leave school. Our host families are all very carefully chosen, regularly visited and police checked. Once we have selected a family to match your child's needs, we will send a full colour profile of the family to you.

Question 6

Will you select a host family before we apply?

Accepted Answer

You can help us to choose.  When you send us your details we will give you a link to our Host Family Selection Tool where you can browse a database of our host families near to your school.

Question 7

Can I meet my child's host family?

Accepted Answer

Yes, we actively encourage overseas parents to meet the host family before their child stays there. This does, however take quite a lot of planning and work on behalf of the Bright World Guardianship Care Manager, so to avoid disappointment please give us at least two weeks’ notice.

Question 8

How far is the host family from school?

Accepted Answer

Our policy is to aim for no further than 30 minutes' drive or 30 miles. We do not always achieve this but if we struggle, we will speak to our customers first.

Question 9

How will my child get to and from the host family?

Accepted Answer

They will collect them and drop them back to school.

Question 10

Will it be the same host family every time?

Accepted Answer

This is the ideal and usual scenario, but sometimes students request to be moved. Sometimes Host Families can let us down and become unavailable to host. In this case, we will find the child a new host family.

Question 11

Are there other options if I don't want my child to go to a host family?

Accepted Answer

Yes, our Relax and Revise programme for half terms and Easter holidays is an excellent alternative. It is a residential programme based just outside Cambridge.

Question 12

Who will meet my child at the airport?

Accepted Answer

As your guardianship company, we will make sure that your child gets picked up safely by one of our drivers on arrival in the UK. Driving a taxi in the UK does require a proper licence and Criminal Record Checks but we feel this requires careful checking by us to ensure safety. We check our drivers licences for you and make sure they have an ENHANCED Criminal Record (DBS) Check. If you choose a Bright World driver, you will be sent a full colour profile 48-72 hours after you have requested the journey which includes their photograph and phone number.

Some parents prefer to use the schools transport and students can travel by train if they are aged 16 years or over.

Question 13

What is included in the Guardianship Programme?

Accepted Answer

Your own Guardianship Care Manager available to you at Head Office

Two visits per year from your Bright World Buddy followed by a full academic and welfare report (mileage is payable at 55p per mile on all visits)

Safe transfer of student to and from airport with a Bright World driver. You will receive a full-colour profile of your driver 48-72 hours after you have requested the journey.

Safe arrival notification and arrival report to parents including initial academic and welfare information

24 hour emergency telephone assistance

Assistance with travel and accommodation arrangements for visiting parents

Ongoing day to day liaison between the school, the student and the parents

The provision of an excellent, hand-picked, host family fully checked out by the discerning Bright World Team.

Placement into a risk-assessed host family if required. Welfare reports and a full COVID/Norovirus or contagious illness Isolation Care Plans will be coordinated for all Bright World students if they are required to isolate. (see extra costs)

Privileged access to BLINK, our online Parent Platform - see reports, manage your account, submit flight details. View host family & driver profiles.

Managing pocket money, opening a bank account and helping to source school uniform

Medical appointment support

Assistance with application to school or college and the care and support of our Head Office team

Question 14

Does Bright World offer different levels of guardianship to children?

Accepted Answer

No, we offer the best service possible to ALL children on our programme. There are no shortcuts in safeguarding.

Question 15

Do you offer any extra services?

Accepted Answer

Arrangement of parent and host family meetings

Our Airport Service – we can arrange for your child to be collected from the aircraft and escorted through customs upon arrival, or escorted to the aircraft on return.

Arrangement of holiday and revision courses in the UK during holidays

Chinese and Russian Language Counselling and Chinese translation services

Attendance at parents’ evenings and school events when not included in your 2 visits per year

Question 16

What is the cost of your UK guardianship programme?

Accepted Answer

Termly service fees for guardianship are £720 per term including VAT. This includes all of our services and at least two visits to see your child at school during the academic year. We usually ask for an expenses fund of £500 per term to cover homestay and travel which is fully refundable if not spent.

Question 17

Do you have a cheaper 'in emergencies only' programme?

Accepted Answer

We feel that our fees are reasonable at £720 per term. We do not offer cheap guardianship; we offer the best that money can buy as we believe that this is what all our students deserve. Guardianship is like an insurance policy and when the unforeseen happens we believe all children deserve the same level of care.

Question 18

Is the Bright World UK Guardianship Programme accredited?

Accepted Answer

Unlike many other guardianship organisations, we are fully accredited by AEGIS (Association for the Education and Guardianship of International Students) to Gold standard. This means our practices and processes have been thoroughly inspected and audited by this important organisation and we can therefore guarantee that we will act in your child’s best interest at all times. We are also the first UK guardianship organisation to hold a recognised partnership with Child Safe. AEGIS re-inspects Guardianship Organisations every four years with our last re-inspection held in 2021. We are very proud of the results where we acheived 100% in all areas of the re-accreditation.

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