For schools
Recording BoardingMatch as an agent on your CAS
If a student comes to you through us, you are probably required to record us when you report that student to UK Visas and Immigration. This is a legal duty on your school, not something we can do for you. This page tells you exactly what the rule says, when it applies to you, and where to put it.
Read this part first
Failing to record an agent is a breach of your own sponsor licence conditions. We have seen schools treat this as an admin chore and leave it until the CAS is assigned, at which point it becomes a correction. Do it when you report the student, not afterwards. If you are unsure whether it applies, assume it does and ask us.
What the guidance actually says
This is from the UK Visas and Immigration sponsor guidance, in the section on agents and third parties. It applies to both the Student route and the Child Student route, so it covers school placements as well as further and higher education.
3.24
Sponsors must record agent details on the CAS where the sponsor has used an agent in the recruitment of the sponsored student.
3.25
Sponsors are required to provide agent details on the CAS in any instance where the sponsor has used an agent or third party in the recruitment of that student, even if this is a one-off recruitment and/or the recruitment was done without a formal ongoing contract with the agent or third party. If a sub agent is used, sponsors must provide details of the main agent not the sub agent.
3.26
Agent details do not need to be provided on the CAS where advisors have been engaged directly by the student to provide support with their application, if that third party was not used by the sponsor as part of the recruitment process.
3.27
The agent details should reflect the agent utilised during the recruitment phase, and who the sponsor attributes the recruitment of the student to, for example but not limited to, who will receive any commission payment.
Does it apply to you? The test is simple
The test is not what we are called and not what the paperwork says. It is one question: did you use us to help you recruit this student?
We introduced the student to you
Record us. This is us being used in your recruitment. This is the normal case and it is what we expect.
You found the student yourself, but we arranged the interview
Record us. The exception in 3.26 only applies where the advisor was engaged by the student directly and you did not use them in recruitment. We were part of your process, so record us.
A family engaged us privately as their own advisor, and you had no part in it
No need to record us. This is the exception in 3.26. Tell us so we can confirm we were not involved in your recruitment.
One student only, no contract between us
Still record us. 3.25 is explicit that this applies even for a one-off recruitment and even with no formal ongoing contract.
You are using a sub-agent who found them
Record the main agent, not the sub agent. If we are working through someone else, tell us and we will give you the correct main agent details to record.
The two places you record us
1
On your sponsor licence
You maintain a list of the agents and third parties you use to recruit sponsored students, in the UK or anywhere else. You submit that list with your licence application and update it when it changes, including telling UKVI about agents you remove. We should be on that list from the day you sign your agreement with us.
2
On each CAS
For every student who comes to you through us, you record us in the agent fields when you issue the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies. Do this at the point you issue the CAS. Minor errors can be corrected afterwards through the sponsor note field on the CAS, but a missing agent entry is easier to prevent than to fix.
About the commission, on the record
You will notice that paragraph 3.27 names commission as one of the reasons an agent is recorded. That is deliberate. Our agreement requires you to record us, and it does not ask you to hide that we are paid. To be straightforward about it: we charge a success-based commission after a student you have admitted has started, and it comes out of the fee income you receive from the family. The fee you invoice to the family is not increased to cover it.
This is worth being relaxed about. A recorded, expected commercial arrangement is a normal part of international student recruitment. An unrecorded one is what creates problems, both at audit and in a complaint.
What you need from us, and what we need from you
We give you a completed set of our details for the licence application, the CAS agent fields and your internal records, in the onboarding pack sent with your agreement. We also keep them updated, and we will tell you if they change.
We give you
Our legal entity name, registered address, company registration number, VAT registration number where we hold one, and a named contact with a direct email and telephone number for sponsorship queries. Issued as a one-page sheet at onboarding, and reissued whenever anything changes.
You give us
Your sponsor licence number, the date you record us on your licence application, and the CAS reference for any student where you need to correct the agent fields. A named sponsorship contact on your side.
If something goes wrong
If you have a concern about us, tell your named contact and we will investigate. UKVI has a route for reporting concerns about agents, and you are not expected to sit on a problem. We would rather hear it from you.
The wider framework you are signing up to
Recording us on the CAS is the part with legal force behind it. It sits inside a wider set of expectations that apply to any licensed sponsor using recruitment agents, and it is worth knowing that you are being asked to hold us to it.
Sponsor guidance requires licensed sponsors using recruitment agents to commit to the key principles of the Agent Quality Framework, and to be able to show, if asked, how they are managing agents against that framework and the national code of ethical practice for UK education agents. Those documents cover transparency about fees, honest advice, agent governance, and pastoral care for students under 18.
We are built to that standard rather than around it. Our terms set out who pays what on both sides, and our safeguarding basics apply to every student regardless of whether anyone pays extra for them.
Our full terms and fees covers the payment side in detail.