UK university guardianship

Universities can and do accept students who are under 18. If an international student who is under 18 is here without their parents, they must nominate a responsible adult or a Guardianship Organisation and inform their university, usually before an offer is made. 

Our university guardianship programme has been running for well over a decade and we understand that university students' needs are very different from boarding school guardianship. We have therefore designed a programme for the under 18's that is flexible and which satisfies the UKVI and our strict safeguarding standards.  

We will need the name of the Hall of Residence where our students will live with their emergency contact prior to guardianship. We can offer guardianship for students in private accommodation but only if we are given the name of a supervising adult who will be responsible for their day to day care. 

Where our international university students come from 

UK universities welcome students from across the globe; our university guardians do the same. Any international university student can require a guardian; many that we support come from Asia, Africa, and the USA. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Japan are just some of the locations that students may call home. Wherever an international university student hails from, a Bright World UK university guardian can support their time in the UK. 

Although no statutory requirement exists for educational guardianship under UK law, guardianship is a requirement through school and university policies, safeguarding guidelines such as Keeping Children Safe in Education, and immigration rules.

Schools and Universities consider it to be best practice to insist on an educational guardian for any students joining who is under the age of 18.

Bright World is known by the Department for Education and the UKVI as a valid company to offer guardianship in the UK. We are also Gold Standard AEGIS accredited meaning we are inspected every four years, making us compliant with all UK laws and safeguarding requirements.

Some parents have a family friend who they wish to be their nominated guardian or “responsible adult” while they study in the UK. This can be a good solution if the family friend qualifies under the UKVI rules: that is, that they are a British citizen or have settled status, and do not hold a serious criminal record. Universities usually require the family friend to live within two hours of the university institution and to always be available to attend on short notice.

However, there are drawbacks of having a family friend as a guardian. In particular, they may not always be available and there is no back up plan if the care arrangements fail.

Online communication portal for reports and notifications

Our clients (parents and their agents) benefit from the use of BLINK, our cloud-based parent portal where you will see a live timeline of our reports, visits and parents evenings feedback forms.   

For expert advice on UK and US university entry, Bright World has teamed up with Education Advisers Ltd, whose experienced consultants offer a full range of Higher Education services for international students. These range from complimentary advice on the best University Foundation courses, to bespoke Oxbridge and Medical School coaching and mentorship programmes. You can visit their website at www.educationadvisers.co.uk or call +44 1622 813870 for further information.

Bright World is one of the UK's leading Guardianship Organisations and has placed thousands of students into UK boarding schools since its foundation. Bright World operates from its Head Office in Sussex, UK, and has over 30 local coordinators across the UK.

With over 25 years of experience working with students and host families, we are particularly proud of our ability to match students with host families successfully. We listen to parents when they enrol and throughout their guardianship stay and we also listen to students. By gaining information on their likes and dislikes, food preferences, and looking at their age and the profile of the host family, we consistently get it right.

Unlike many other guardianship organisations, we are proud to have AEGIS Gold Standard Accreditation, meaning our practises and processes have been thoroughly inspected and audited, enabling us to guarantee parents that we will act in your child’s best interests at all times and that students will receive the very highest standard of care under our guardianship.

To learn more about our guardianship programme or to make a guardianship enquiry, please get in touch with us today for more information.