Optional check

Is the school on its government’s register?

Some governments publish a list of the institutions licensed to enrol international students. Where we are allowed to, we keep every edition and you can search it here by name.

Searchable here: Australia, Japan (Japanese-language education institutions only) and United Kingdom. Canada publishes a list we may not republish name by name, so we link to it instead. Most countries publish no such list at all, which says nothing about the institutions there.

Check a UK school on the student sponsor register

Every UK school that can sponsor a Student visa is on the Home Office register of licensed student sponsors. Type the school's name in the box above to search our copy, or open the official register on GOV.UK. A school that is not on it cannot issue the CAS you need for the visa.

What the UK student visa costs · Study in the UK

What a register can and cannot tell you

A school on the register was licensed to sponsor or enrol international students on the date of that edition. That is worth knowing before you pay a deposit. It does not tell you how good the teaching is, whether the course is recognised for a particular job, or whether a place has been offered to you: those you check with the institution and, for a profession, with its regulator in the country where you want to work.

A school missing from a register is not proof of anything either. Names are written differently, branches are listed under the main campus, and most countries publish no such register at all. If you cannot find a school, look it up on the official register yourself and ask the school which licence number it holds.

Four more checks before you pay anyone

Pay the institution, not a person. Fees go to an account in the institution's own name, shown on its official website.
Get the offer from the institution itself, from an address on its own domain, and confirm it by writing to the admissions office.
Nobody can guarantee a visa. Only the government decides, and no agent can buy a faster or surer result.
Check the agent too. See how to spot a study-abroad scam and how to check an education agent.

Country guides · Student visas compared · Scholarships by nationality · What a year costs

Questions

How do I check if a university is real?

Look it up on the government register of institutions licensed to enrol international students, where the country publishes one: search above for the United Kingdom, Australia and Japanese-language schools in Japan, and use the official list for Canada. Then check that the offer letter comes from the institution itself and that fees go to an account in its own name.

What does it mean if a school is not on a register?

Most countries publish no such register, so not being on one says nothing on its own. Where a register exists and the school is missing, ask the school why before you pay anything.

Can an agent guarantee my student visa?

No. Only the government decides a visa, and no agent can buy a faster or surer result. Anyone promising one is a warning sign.