Fully accredited by both AEGIS and the British Boarding School Association (BSA), we support international students throughout their time at UK boarding schools.
Most UK boarding schools require their international students to have local UK support and appoint an educational guardian, regardless of whether they are studying for a term, semester or several years.
An educational guardian is an adult or a company in the UK who is appointed by a parent to be their representative while their child studies in the UK.
When you appoint Academies Families as your child’s guardian, we look after your child and offer the same level of support that we would expect for our own family. Hundreds of families have relied on our support to ensure their children thrive and make the most of their boarding school years.
To ensure your child is safe and receiving the highest quality support, most schools recommend you appoint a guardian which is accredited by AEGIS (Association for the Education and Guardianship of International Students) or BSA (Boarding School Association). Academic Families is accredited by both - AEGIS gold standard and BSA - and our local teams support students across the UK.
Many parents of Child Student visa holders rely on their accredited guardian to support their child throughout their time in the UK and most boarding schools require students to have a UK-based guardian whatever their age.
Both the Boarding School Association and AEGIS recommend students should have someone (not a school staff member) to support them outside of school.
Although it might seem like a good idea to have UK-based friends act as your child's guardian while they are studying in the UK, there are many reasons why guardianship should be given to professionals who are equipped to deal with any and every situation.
Family or friends could be hours away - most schools require guardians to be less than two hours' travel from school.
Moreover, relatives, friends or business companions may not be fully prepared or able to support your child, whereas a professional guardianship agency has experienced people and procedures in place to fully support students whatever happens and whenever they might be.
Guardians commit to assuming delegated parental responsibility in case of emergencies and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of your child. This means that we are there whenever your child needs help. As you might imagine, this might be difficult for your friends to do if they are working or if your child needs help in the middle of the night!
Do you have a friend in the UK who you’d like to use as your child’s guardian?
Whilst having a professional guardian such as Academic Families is recommended, we understand you might choose to rely on family or friends if they live near your child’s boarding school.
This is possible, however, in order to ensure compliance with UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) rules for student visas and safeguarding purposes, your nominee will need to go through our Friends & Family Verification Service.
How does it work?
Even if your friend or family member will act as the guardian, you will need to nominate a professional company on your child’s student visa application.
It’s important to start this process early because there are several forms to complete and it can take 2-3 weeks for Academic Families to perform our verification checks.
You should also inform your family member or friend of the process, so they know what to expect and are comfortable engaging with us.
Please complete the permission form to get started >
Ensuring your friend or family member meets the requirements
When choosing someone to look after your child, be sure they meet the legal requirements set out by the UK government:
What’s next?
Academic Families will conduct a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on every member of the household who is over the age of 16.
We will also visit the house for an in-person interview, ID check, and inspection.
Please note that in order to fulfil visa requirements, the DBS checks and inspection have to be completed prior to issuing the Letter of Undertaking which goes with your child’s student for visa application.
If your friend or family member successfully passes the verification process, they will be given full access to our emergency 24/7 phone, WhatsApp, and email service. We will provide our full guardianship support if their plans change and your child needs to alter their travel or accommodation arrangements.
If your nominee does not pass our verification checks, then you can nominate Academic Families as your full and official guardian and we will take care of all your child’s needs.
We work with schools throughout Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and we have host families throughout the UK too.
If your child needs a place to stay for a night or two during mini school breaks, our host families are ready to welcome them with open arms. And if your child wants to stay for longer holidays, it's never a problem.
Host families offer a lot of support for international students, however, a host family isn’t enough when it comes to guardianship. For example, most hosts wouldn’t know what to do if an international student is stuck in customs. It’s also beyond a host family’s duties to attend school meetings - they are only committed to taking a student at weekends. Hosts also do not deal with issues that arise during the week or during holidays (when parents come to spend time with their children).
Guardians also offer academic and pastoral support
If your child needs academic or emotional support, Academic Families is well equipped to help. Our local staff is spread out across the UK so we can also easily attend school meetings on your behalf and send detailed reports afterwards.
Travel assistance from trusted guardianship providers
International students also need guardianship when travelling. A trusted guardian will make sure that even if travel plans don't go smoothly, your child will have help at hand no matter what time of the day or night it is.
Houseparents are often full-time teachers who also look after as many as 70 students after school, meaning your child is just 1 of 70. Whereas with Academic Families, your child is our number 1 priority.
If your child's school has horizontal boarding, then students will have a different houseparent every year, and it is unlikely they will be able to really get to know each child.
Academic Families is with your child from start to finish and we work closely with all our boarding schools ensuring our children are fully supported but also learn responsibility and independence.
Our guardians, host families and staff are dedicated to supporting students from around the world – helping them to settle into their British boarding school and enjoy their home away from home in Great Britain.
With strong roots in guardianship and education, our team will support you and your child to ensure their UK education and cultural experience is the best it can be.
“Academic Families provide a guardianship service of the highest calibre for students and their families. Their knowledgeable and experienced staff provide exemplary pastoral and academic support to help ensure that students are extremely well looked after, and achieve to the best of their ability.”
Jacqueline Scotney
AEGIS Lead Inspector
Get in touch and we will contact you to discuss your child's needs and explain how we can help you year-round.
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