UKVI updates student sponsor register repeatedly in Jan 2026; applicants urged to verify licence

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has updated the Register of licensed sponsors: students multiple times in January 2026, with the GOV.UK page showing the latest update on 16 January 2026 and a run of near-daily refreshes from 2–16 January 2026. The register is the official list of institutions licensed to sponsor international students under the Student and Child Student routes, and it includes each sponsor’s route coverage and sponsor status.

For Indian students holding offers (or paying deposits) for 2026 intakes, this register is one of the most practical “pre-flight checks” because only licensed sponsors can issue a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) needed for a UK Student visa application.

What changed in January 2026

GOV.UK’s update log on the sponsor register shows repeated entries marked “Updated register of licensed sponsors” across multiple dates in January, including 16 Jan, 15 Jan, 14 Jan, 13 Jan, 9 Jan, 8 Jan, 7 Jan, 6 Jan, and 2 Jan 2026.

UKVI does not publish a “reason list” on the page for individual institutional changes. The intent of publishing frequent refreshes is to keep the sponsor list current for institutions and applicants using it as an official reference.

What the register contains (and what students should look at)

The register is provided as a downloadable CSV and the GOV.UK preview shows columns including:

• Sponsor Name
• Town/City and Additional Locations
• Sponsor Type (e.g., Higher Education Institution, publicly funded college, independent school)
• Status (examples shown include “Student Sponsor”, “Student Sponsor – Track Record”, and “Probationary Sponsor”)
• Route (Student / Child Student)
• Immigration Compliance

​For applicants, the key relevance is whether the institution is listed for the Student route (for university-level study) and what Status it holds in the register.

How this links to your UKVI sponsor guidance story

This register update is closely related to sponsor compliance, because UKVI’s sponsor system works in two parts:

• Sponsor Guidance (the rulebook of duties), and
• The Sponsor Register (the live list of who is licensed right now).

Also Check: UKVI updates Student Sponsor Guidance; rules apply from Jan 16, 2026

For Indian students, frequent updates to the sponsor register are most useful as a verification reminder—especially during peak admission and deposit season—because sponsor licensing is a prerequisite for issuing a CAS and sponsoring a Student visa application.

Next steps for applicants (practical checklist)

Students can use the GOV.UK register to:

• Confirm the institution appears on the register, and
• Check it is licensed for the Student route (not only Child Student), and
• Review the sponsor Status displayed in the register.