BSA/BAISIS – Visa and immigration conference

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• Date: October 08, 2024
• Time: 09:45 – 16:30
• Cost: BSA/BAISIS Full Member – £235, BSA/BAISIS Additional Member Fee – £110,  BSA Affiliate Member – £325, BSA Additional Affiliate Member Fee – £140, BSA/BAISIS Full Member Whole School Fee – £490, Non-member – £430
• Audience: Admissions, Marketing, Deputy Head, Head of Boarding, Head, Bursar, Education Guardians, Agents
• Platform: Zoom (online) – conference

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Sponsored by:

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Course Outline:

For schools who sponsor international students, keeping up to date with an ever-changing immigration law landscape whilst navigating complex sponsor licence requirements can be burdensome. Our autumn BSA and BAISIS Visa and Immigration conference brings delegates the latest in visas and immigration relevant to the education sector, direct from the experts.  Addressing key issues from our members including changes to the Student and Child Student visa route, Student Sponsor Licence best practice, key CAS considerations and what to expect from Home Office (UKVI) inspections, select sessions combine to provide a holistic, sector-specific update. Delegates will hear from a host of experts and practitioners to develop wider knowledge, understanding and best practice around this critical area of compliance.  BSA and BAISIS will facilitate questions directly from members to our experts, including Home Office representatives, throughout the day and encourage delegates to come prepared with questions for our panels. 

Training topics will include:

• Key sector issues relating to visas and immigration 
• International recruitment trends and data analysis 
• Home Office (UKVI) inspections: what to expect 
• Child Student / Student visa route updates 
• Student Sponsor policy developments 
• Sponsor licence compliance trends and duties 
• Key CAS allocation and BCA considerations 
• Reporting, monitoring and record-keeping responsibilities. 

Learning outcomes:

• Increased awareness of the visa process for schools as sponsor licence holders 
• Increased understanding of the CAS application process 
• Increased understanding of the wider visa and immigration process, timelines and services. 

BOOK NOW

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Programme:

09:45 – 10:00

Welcome and update: immigration state of the nation 

A review of where we are now as a sector and what’s to come.

Chair: Kate Hollyer, Director of Legal and Public Affairs, BSA Group

10:00 – 10:30

Keynote: Update from the Department for Business and Trade

Speaker: Christopher Boobier, Regional Lead for Middle East and Pakistan, China and Hong Kong International Education, Department for Business and Trade

10:30 – 10:45

Break

10:45 – 11:30

Assessing your non-school care arrangements for international students

UKVI are becoming increasingly focused on this important area and how sponsors are vetting non-school care arrangements. These care arrangements cover boarders outside term time in the UK (guardians and home stays), medical and emergency term time contingencies, and international day pupils. Whilst regulation in this area is anticipated, UKVI expect sponsors to be proactive in ensuring care arrangements are acceptable.

Chair: Caroline Nixon, International and Membership Director, BSA Group

Speaker:

• Marie de Tito Mount, CEO, Westbourne School
• Andrew Berrow, Deputy Head (operations), Blundell’s School 

11:30 – 11:45

Break

11:45 – 12:30

International enrolment and perception snapshot 2024

An analysis of survey data from BSA Certified Agents and BAISIS school heads, registrars and marketing leads on the changing nature of international student recruitment to UK boarding schools. The panel will address the key findings and the impact on the UK boarding market’s ability to recruit and retain international students.

Chair: Dale Wilkins, Executive Director Accreditation/Compliance and Scotland/Wales, BSA Group

Speaker:

• Aileen Kane, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer of BSA Group
• Caroline Nixon, International and Membership Director, BSA Group
• Bethan Hudson, Executive Director Specialist Services and Director, BAISIS, BSA Group
•  Kate Hollyer, Director of Legal and Public Affairs, BSA Group

12:30 – 13:30

Lunch

13:30 – 14:30

Home Office: Policy and Operations update

Hear from representatives of the Home Office Study Operations and Student Policy departments about the Child Student / Student visa routes and future developments, plus pose your questions to the team – an unmissable session!

Chair: Kate Hollyer, Director of Legal and Public Affairs, BSA Group

Speakers:

• Kay Stones, Engagement Officers for the Study Engagement Team, Home Office
• Jacob Baldwin, Engagement Officers for the Study Engagement Team, Home Office

14:30 – 14:45

Break

14:45 – 15:45

Legal update: UKVI compliance and Educational Oversight

An overview of compliance trends and areas of focus from leading immigration Sponsor audit, training and compliance expert.

Chair: Beth Hudson, Executive Director Specialist Services and Director, BAISIS, BSA Group

Speaker: Hazar El-Chamaa, Senior Associate, Penningtons Manches LLP

15:45 – 16:15

In conversation with immigration experts & conference close

Conference close

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Speakers: Kate Hollyer, Director of Legal and Public Affairs, BSA Group Kate is Legal and Public Affairs Director of BSA Group and Director of BSA Group Legal Services Ltd, BSA Group’s SRA-regulated law firm. As a qualified solicitor of England and Wales with more than 12 years’ experience advising clients on UK immigration and nationality law, Kate supports members with all UK immigration matters including UKVI sponsor licence compliance. Kate is a member of the Home Office Education Advisory Group and is the boarding sector representative for this group. Prior to joining BSA in 2022 Kate was Partner and Head of Department at a leading full-service UK law firm. Having resided in state, preparatory and senior school boarding houses since 2014 with her Housemaster husband, Kate has a unique perspective of boarding life.

 

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Christopher Boobier, Regional Lead for Middle East and Pakistan, China and Hong Kong International Education, Department for Business and Trade  

 

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Bethan Hudson, Executive Director Specialist Services and Director, BAISIS, BSA Group Bethan Waddington joined the BSA team as Training Manager in September 2017. Bethan has worked in two independent boarding schools in the UK and Switzerland, the latter as Housemistress to 36 pupils. Following her time in Switzerland, she was a Pastoral Manager for an inner-city state academy before working in the charity sector for Debrett’s running the ‘Debrett’s Foundation’ training programme. In her role, Bethan plans and manages all Day Seminars, Conferences, INSET and Consultancy, as well as being Director of BAISIS. She believes boarding can be a positive force for young people and in order to fully support their needs staff can never learn too much. As such she is passionate about the CPD BSA delivers to our pastoral communities in the UK and worldwide.

 

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Caroline Nixon, International and Membership Director, BSA Group Caroline has worked in international education for over 30 years.  She is International & Membership Director at Boarding Schools’ Association, and Director of Caroline Nixon Education Ltd., as well as a member of the advisory group to the British Government’s All Party Parliamentary Group for international students. Caroline set up and runs the BSA educational agent certification scheme and is involved with the BSA’s accreditation of international schools.  Her background is in international education marketing and she also set up and ran a leading international school in the UK.  She has helped several UK schools to establish new overseas branches, advised an international school opening in the UK, set up a guardianship agency for an educational group, and advises schools on international marketing and academic and pastoral provision for their international students.

 

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Dale Wilkins, Executive Director Accreditation/Compliance and Scotland/Wales, BSA Group Dale joined the BSA during Summer 2017 with responsibility for safeguarding and standards, having previously been a course tutor since 1998. In July 2019 he also assumed responsibility for the BSA’s training programme, including both day seminars and accredited training courses. Dale leads on all safeguarding and inspection matters for the BSA, including managing the Commitment to Care Charter and has also developed a process of BSA Accreditation for our international members. He also liaises with ISI, Ofsted and DfE on matters relating to compliance and inspection standards, and compiles the BSA Self-Assessment toolkit, which he first produced in 2002, since which time he has been closely involved in inspection in state and independent boarding. For 31 years Dale was a boarding practitioner. After boarding positions at Norwich School and Tettenhall College, Dale became a Housemaster at Old Swinford Hospital in 1992, and was promoted to Deputy Head in 2007, and subsequently also DSL. He has also been a multi-agency trainer for the Dudley Safeguarding Children’s Board.

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Kay Stones, Engagement Officers for the Study Engagement Team, Home Office Our team creates and delivers bespoke workshops to educational sponsors and sector bodies. In particular, our Document Verification workshop has been delivered to over one thousand delegates from across the sector. We also attend industry associations and events across the country such as ARC, BSA, Mainland, the British Council alongside many others.

 

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Jacob Baldwin, Engagement Officers for the Study Engagement Team, Home Office Our team creates and delivers bespoke workshops to educational sponsors and sector bodies. In particular, our Document Verification workshop has been delivered to over one thousand delegates from across the sector. We also attend industry associations and events across the country such as ARC, BSA, Mainland, the British Council alongside many others.

 

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Marie de Tito Mount, CEO, Westbourne School  Marie has over two decades of strategic leadership, entrepreneurship and business development experience. Prior to joining Westbourne in 2018, Marie founded, led and successfully exited a digital agency in the high-value travel sector. Previous roles include Managing Director, The Big Domain, Head of Proposition Development at Cendant Corp and commissioned military service in the British Army.

 

 

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Andrew Berrow, Deputy Head (operations), Blundell’s School 

Andrew is currently the Deputy Head (operations) at Blundell’s School in Devon. In previous iterations, he has been the Head of Boarding for five years and a housemaster for thirteen. He has also been a tutor on the BSA Certificate in Boarding Practice course until recently.

He has been in charge of the visa operation in the school since the UKBA first set it up. He has noted many changes over that time, not least in inspection regimes.

 

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Hazar El-Chamaa, Immigration Partner, Penningtons Manches LLP

Hazar has over eight years’ immigration experience and has been advising education providers on all aspects of compliance, restructuring and business strategies since the inception of Tier 4. Her experience also includes advising on appeals, judicial review applications and challenges to Home Office decisions which affect sponsors. Hazar is a frequent speaker on immigration law and gives training on sponsor compliance and prevention of illegal working. She is an elected executive committee member of ILPA (Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association) and has been recommended by the Chambers Guide to the UK Legal Profession. Penningtons is recognised as a key link between the Home Office and educational institutions in the process of implementing and working through PBS reform.