BAISIS/BSA – Visa and immigration summer term conference

• Date: May 21, 2024
• Time: 09:30 – 16:00
• Cost: BAISIS/BSA Full Member – £215, BAISIS/BSA Additional Member Fee – £110, BSA Affiliate Member – £325, BSA Additional Affiliate Member Fee – £140,  Non-member – £430
• Audience: Admissions, Marketing, Deputy Head, Head of Boarding, Head, Bursar, Educational Guardians, Agents. 
• Platform: Zoom (online) – conference

Course outline

This conference will enable delegates to hear directly from the experts on the latest in visas and immigration relevant to the education sector. The summer update will address key issues from members at a crucial time of year for international student recruitment.

BSA will facilitate questions directly from members to our experts throughout the day, including Home Office representatives. Delegates are welcome to send their questions in advance to bsa@boarding.org.uk to ensure these are answered during the session.

Sponsored by IGTM

Training topics will include:

• Key sector issues relating to visas and immigration
• Maintaining sponsor licence compliance
• International student recruitment risk assessments and due diligence considerations
• Sponsor duties, including Monitoring, Reporting and Record-keeping Managing the SMS, CAS allocations and your BCA
• UKVI inspections and educational oversight
• Relationships with educational agents

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Programme:

09:30 – 09:45

Session 1 – Welcome and update: immigration state of the nation

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

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

09:45 – 10:15

Session 2 – Preparing for induction, best practice for welcoming your international students 

This session will hear from current sponsors on their integration and induction processes from a sponsorship perspective and focusing on their new international students. 

•  Chair: Beth Waddington, Director, BAISIS 
  • Speaker: Johanna Prior, Joint Principal, The International College, King’s School, Canterbury 

10:15 – 10:30

Break

10:30 – 11:15

Session 3 – Promoting positive and transparent relationships with educational agents 

This session will bring together voices from boarding schools with international students and BSA certified educational agents to discuss how to promote positive relationships between the two, focusing on the sponsor duties and wellbeing and care of the child.

• Chair: Caroline Nixon, International Director, BSA Group
  • Speaker: Gemma Kilby, Head of Admissions, Felsted School
  • Lauren Moore, International Compliance Officer, Felsted School 
  • Theresa Glasmacher, Managing Director, Barbara Glasmacher, Internationale Schulberatung 

11:15 – 11:30

Break

11:30 – 12:30

Session 4 – Exploitation risks and due diligence

This session will be focused on helping schools to be aware of and safeguard their international students whilst best protecting themselves and their international students against exploitation. 

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

12:30 – 13:30

Lunch

13:30 – 14:30

Session 5 – 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
  • Speaker: Jack Rose, Study Service Manager, Home Office

14:30 – 14:45

Break

14:45 – 15:45

Session 6 – Legal update: UKVI compliance and Educational Oversight 

An overview of compliance trends and areas of focus from leading immigration expert and Chair of Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA)  

• Chair: Beth Waddington, Director, BAISIS
  • Speaker: Hazar El–Chamaa, Immigration Partner, Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP and Chair, ILPA

15:45 – 16:15

Session 7 – In conversation with immigration experts. 

Put your questions to the legal panel and hear a round-up of the day. 

• Chair: Beth Waddington, Director, BAISIS
  • Speaker: Kate Hollyer, Director of Legal and Public Affairs, BSA Group  
  • Hazar El-Chamaa, Immigration Partner, Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP and Chair, ILPA

16:15

Close of conference

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.

Beth Waddington, Director, BAISIS 

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.

Caroline Nixon, International 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.

Johanna Prior, Joint Principal, The International College, King’s School, Canterbury 

Jack Rose, Study Service Manager, Home Office

Hazar El–Chamaa, Immigration Partner, Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP and Chair, ILPA

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.