Sources, methodology and corrections
UK Student Sponsors is an independent directory maintained by Salih Enes Metin. We are not the Home Office, a university admissions service or a regulated immigration adviser. Our purpose is to help applicants compare register entries and know what to verify before paying for a course.
What we add to the official register
We make the register searchable by institution, location, route and provider type, retain readable HTML tables without JavaScript, and connect higher education provider details to possible register matches. Our guides explain how to use a result, what it does not prove, and the questions to ask admissions. The official register remains the authority on licensing.
Sources and update schedules
- Home Office student sponsor register: the scheduled daily job discovers and downloads the CSV, validates its columns and routes, and preserves the last valid snapshot if validation fails. A successful check is recorded in our public data-check record. A schedule is not a promise that every run succeeded.
- UK Register of Learning Providers: provider names, UKPRNs and recorded addresses are stored snapshots, not live campus verification. UKRLP registration does not establish a sponsor licence.
- Wikidata and provider websites: website links are cross-referenced using provider identifiers and names. Rebrands and redirects can make them stale. Confirm the name and domain independently before sending documents or money.
- GOV.UK visa guidance: editorial explanations and fee information are checked separately from the register. Their review dates do not advance merely because the site is rebuilt.
The project also holds a historical HESA provider dataset. Because its academic year has not been verified in this copy, we do not present those enrolment figures as current statistics or use them to rank institutions.
What the numbers count
A table row is a route entry, not necessarily a separate institution or licence. One provider can appear for Student and Child Student routes. Our distinct-provider count groups the trimmed, case-normalised name and registered town; it is a transparent comparison aid, not a legal-entity census. Registered locations may differ from teaching campuses. Cities with fewer than five entries are accessible through the full-list search instead of a separate page.
How university matching works
We compare the provider's name, legal name and known trading names with the register after normalising punctuation and common name suffixes. Only an unambiguous name match is accepted. This is not a UKVI identifier match or a manual investigation. Similarly named organisations, corporate changes and partnerships can cause false matches or missed matches.
Matched means a possible register match was found in the dated snapshot. No automatic match means you should ask the provider for its legal CAS sponsor name and search GOV.UK yourself. It does not mean the institution is unlicensed. A listed sponsor is not obliged to issue you a CAS, and sponsorship is not a scholarship, course-quality endorsement or visa guarantee.
What the dates mean
Register snapshot is when the downloaded dataset last changed. The public metadata separately records the most recent successful download check. Profile pages may show a more recent Firestore check when verified metadata is available; older or unverifiable responses do not replace the stored result. Content updated/reviewed refers to editorial changes or a recorded review, not automated daily publishing. Sitemap last-modification dates advance when page content changes.
Checking an offer: a practical example
If an offer names “Example Pathway College at Example University”, searching only the university can give a misleading answer. Ask which legal entity will issue the CAS; search that exact name, inspect the visa route and compare the study campus. Keep a copy of the offer and refund terms. If no match is clear, pause payment and contact the institution using independently verified contact details. Do not treat our green badge as a substitute for these checks.
Corrections, advertising and independence
Send corrections to info@ukstudentsponsors.co.uk with the page URL, provider name or UKPRN, and an official source. Do not send passport scans, bank statements or CAS reference numbers. We do not accept payment to change register status or the order of results. Advertising may support selected editorial pages; it does not buy a listing or an endorsement.
Home Office register data is reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. No government endorsement is implied. Read our privacy policy for browser storage, service providers and your choices.