International Admissions

All applicants are required to take entrance examinations in English, Maths and Non-verbal reasoning. These tests can be taken at the pupil’s current school, a lawyer's office or British Council.

In order to assess levels of spoken and written English, students are required to complete an online assessment, and may be invited for a Skype interview with a member of staff.

Arranging an educational guardian for your child

Kent College, like other independent schools in the UK requires all parents to appoint an educational Guardian who will look after the welfare of their child. Guardians must be aged over 25 years and resident in the UK and be less than two hours travel from school. Guardians should be able to commit to assuming delegated parental responsibility in case of emergencies and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of your child. They should be the parents' representative in the UK and be able to attend parent evenings if required, arrange appropriate transportation to and from the school for your child and visit them during term time as needed.

Whilst Kent College cannot make individual recommendations for guardian agencies, we would advise parents to only use guardian companies accredited by AEGIS (The Association for Education and Guardianship of International Students) or the BSA (Boarding School Association) Parents must complete a Guardian consent form at this stage.

Aegis can be contacted at www.aegisuk.net

AEGIS registered guardians include;

Brightworld
Whitehouse
Pippa's Guardians

If a child does not hold a British or Irish passport, and is planning to stay in the UK for over 6 months they may need to apply for a Child Pupil Visa to study in the UK and a Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS).  
Most students will need a visa to study at Kent College except for British and Irish nationals and those who have a (Pre)-settled status.  
You can check if you need a UK visa here.

Kent College is a sponsor for Child Student visas for boarding students:

 We do not sponsor day pupils for student visas. We take our duties as sponsors for educational visas very seriously. Recent changes to the expectations of sponsors by UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) require us to be aware of the immigration status of every day and boarding student, regardless of nationality.
The school will issue a CAS once the student’s place at school is confirmed, the Guardian agreement is in place, the deposit has been paid, and evidence of funds to cover 1 year’s fees have all been provided.

Please follow the step by step procedure below for more information on Visas.

We require all parents to complete a Parents' Contract that sets out the terms and conditions on joining the school. In addition parents will need to complete the following online forms before their child joins the school:

• Medical questionnaire – the school is required by UK law to hold medical information including emergency contact details and parental consents for all pupils. Please note new pupils cannot start term until this online form has been completed.
• Laptop and IT usage agreements – these agreements summarise the commitments of the school by providing a laptop computer for educational purposes, and of pupils and parents/guardians. They also outline acceptable usage within the school premises and on school laptops.
• Biometrics consent form – biometrics information is used for systems such as print and copy cost control, access control, purchase of items in Cafe 1885 and registration

These forms are available on our Joining KC page.

If a child does not hold a British or Irish passport, and is planning to stay in the UK for over 6 months they may need to apply for a Child Pupil Visa to study in the UK and a Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS).  
Most students will need a visa to study at Kent College except for British and Irish nationals and those who have a (Pre)-settled status.  
You can check if you need a UK visa here.

Kent College is a sponsor for Child Student visas for boarding students:

 We do not sponsor day pupils for student visas. We take our duties as sponsors for educational visas very seriously. Recent changes to the expectations of sponsors by UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) require us to be aware of the immigration status of every day and boarding student, regardless of nationality.
The school will issue a CAS once the student’s place at school is confirmed, the Guardian agreement is in place, the deposit has been paid, and evidence of funds to cover 1 year’s fees have all been provided.

It currently costs £490 to apply for a Child Student visa from outside the UK.

You will need to send the following documents to the College/Sable International before applying for the visa:

• A scan of the photo page of your passport.
• A scan of your birth certificate
• A scan of your most recent school report (and its official translation - no exceptions). For the visa application, provisional results or mock Exams results are not accepted.
• A scan of the parents’ consent letter (please download, print, sign, scan and send)
• As a general rule, you must be no older than 17 years old on your first day on starting at Kent College.

TRANSLATIONS:

If any document you are required to submit is not in English, e.g. your birth certificate, school transcript/record you must have it translated officially by a legal translator. A lot of visas are rejected when this is ignored. 
(Please note Chinese birth certificates must be translated).

FINANCIAL EVIDENCE:

Depending on where you are from, you will have to show evidence of sufficient funds to pay for the course fees for the first academic year. This information can be found in the Financial Statement sent to your family.
Some countries do not have to meet this requirement: See list of countries which do not need to show this evidence.  Even if your country is not on this list, we still highly recommend that you pay the fees for the first year in advance. This will make the visa process go smoothly. If you choose to submit bank statements or certificate of deposit, there are many requirements to meet.

BIOMETRICS:

As part of your visa application, you are required to provide your biometric information (fingerprints and facial image). Your visa application will not be processed until you have provided the necessary biometric information.
EU/EEA students can download an application to complete this. Search ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ in your App store. Please notice the app will not work until you have started an application on GOV.UK.
Nationals of certain countries can do this online. You will be told what you need to do when you apply. You may have to go to the nearest visa application centre for this.

TUBERCULOSIS (TB) SCREENING:

Prior to making your visa application, students from certain countries are required to obtain a clear Tuberculosis Screening Test result. Please see the following website for your home country information.
If you need this test, you must get it from a clinic which is on the UK Visas and Immigration Authority’s list of approved TB Testing Clinics.

Please see the following website and follow information for your home country.

CREDIBILITY INTERVIEWS:

As part of your visa application, you may be requested to attend a short video interview with the Home Office. The purpose of the interview is to check that the applicant is a genuine student, so they may ask you some questions about your course, why you chose to study it, etc. 

Always check your junk inbox as Home Office emails may end up there. Many visas have been rejected because of lack of response.

You can ask to withdraw your application by contacting UKVI. Your fee will only be refunded if UKVI has not started processing your application.

The current BRP system (identity card) will be superseded by a new digital system for confirming migrants’ immigration status, which will be known as eVisa. This will enable individuals to access the record of their visa status online. The record will be secure, cannot be lost or stolen and will also mean that applicants will not need to collect or wait for a physical document once the outcome of that application has been decided.

KENT COLLEGE COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT FEE:

The school has a sponsor licence to be able to enrol international students into the school and we have strict compliance regulations that we have to comply with in order for us to maintain this licence. There is a one off compliance management fee of £500 for this which will be added to your bill. Sable International has created a useful guide to Child Student Visas for International students requiring Visa Sponsorship. Please see here for more information.

IMMIGRATION HEALTHCARE SURCHARGE (IHS):

All students must pay for this, please find more information here. 
Even if you are under 18 years old, you will need to pay for this in order to apply. This will entitle your child to free NHS hospital treatment in the UK on the same basis as an ordinarily resident person. This will apply from the date your visa is granted until it expires.
The fee is £776 per-person for every twelve months of visa, payable in local currency. The annual charge is £776 however the home office calculates the IHS in 6-month periods, where the total immigration permission applied for includes part of a year, the IHS payable is rounded up to the next 6 month period. For Child-Student and Student visas the home office issues the visa a month prior to the course start date and they add approximately an extra 4 months onto the end of their visa.  For example, if their course ends in July, their visa will be valid until November. As such, the home office will charge for 1.5 years Immigration Health Surcharge for a 1-year course and 2.5 years for a 2 year course, and so on. The home office uses their own conversion metrics, and we are unable to tell exactly what exchange rate will be applied until payment. We appreciate the exchange rate applied also adds to the amount charged and often the home office applied exchange rate can be inflated.

The UK has introduced an ETA scheme which requires non-visa nationals who are travelling to the UK from certain countries to apply in advance for a digital permission to travel to the UK.  It has already been launched for nationals of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It is similar to the US’s ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization).

  
Nationals of EU and EEA countries plus Switzerland – but not Ireland – will need an ETA from 2 April 2025 (and can start to apply from 5 March 2025). 

Please check if you are eligible before you travel at the UK ETA SCHEME 

What questions are asked on the ETA application form?

 The application form asks for basic personal information, including: 

• Name
• Date of birth
• Nationality
• Address
• Job
• Travel plans  

How do I apply for an ETA? 
You can apply online or through the UK ETA app. The app scans your passport and takes a selfie.

How much does the ETA cost?
The application fee is £10.  

How long does it take to get an ETA?
You should receive a decision within three working days, but it may take longer if more checks are needed.  

How long is an ETA valid for?
An ETA is valid for two years.