Checker › Sponsor

British Council (IAESTE Programme)

Belfast, Antrim · Currently licensed

British Council (IAESTE Programme) holds a Home Office sponsor licence and appears on the register of licensed sponsors published 26 Oct 2026. It can sponsor overseas nationals for the Government Authorised Exchange visa, and its A rating means it can assign Certificates of Sponsorship normally.

First seen on register: 23 Jun 2021 (already licensed when daily CSV publication began; the licence may be older)
Last confirmed: 26 Oct 2026 (latest edition)

Visa routes this sponsor is licensed for

Route	Visa it allows the sponsor to support	Rating	Since
Government Authorised Exchange Temporary Worker	Government Authorised Exchange visa For approved exchange schemes: work experience, training, research and fellowships run by government departments or endorsed bodies. The sponsor is usually the scheme operator, not the host employer.	A rating	23 Jun 2021

Ratings: Full compliance. The sponsor can assign Certificates of Sponsorship and recruit from overseas normally. Downgraded after compliance concerns. The sponsor is on a time-limited action plan with the Home Office and cannot sponsor new workers until it is restored to an A rating. Failure to complete the plan leads to revocation. More.

Licence history

No changes recorded since 23 Jun 2021. The licence has been listed continuously with the same routes and rating.

Be told when this licence changes

Watch British Council (IAESTE Programme) and get an email the day it is removed from the register, re-listed, downgraded to a B rating or renamed. Free for up to 3 sponsors, weekly digest.

Entries are matched by organisation name and town as the Home Office publishes them. A sponsor that changes town, or is published with a different spelling, appears as a separate entry; confirmed renames are linked above. The register carries no licence number or company number. Verify against the official register before relying on this for a decision.