Frequently Asked Questions

At English Country Guardians (ECG), we understand that guardianship can be a new concept for many of our parents. Families often ask us, "Why do we need a guardian? We are the parents. Can't the school just contact us?" 

However, every boarder whose home is overseas or whose parents currently live or are posted abroad must have a nominated guardian for the duration of their stay at boarding school in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland. 

This guardian must be resident in the UK. A guardian is an adult or company - such as English Country Guardians - who takes charge of the student and represents the parents in their absence while a student is enrolled in a UK boarding school. In the event of an emergency, the guardian will be the first point of contact. Parents will, of course, also be contacted, but the guardian will act in their absence with delegated parental responsibility. 

When English Country Guardians is your child’s guardian, we take care of matching your child with the best host family, plus all travel arrangements and many other services.

The host family is the family that your child stays with during holidays or term breaks.

You can think of English Country Guardians like parents who take care of all the responsibilities, and the host families are like the grandparents who can enjoy the children!

Whilst having a professional guardian such as ECG is recommended, we understand you might choose to rely on family or friends if they live near your child’s boarding school.

This is possible, however, in order to ensure compliance with UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) rules for student visas and safeguarding purposes, your nominee will need to go through our Friends & Family Verification Service.

How does it work?

Even if your friend or family member will act as the guardian, you will need to nominate a professional company - such as ECG - on your child’s student visa application.

It’s important to start this process early because there are several forms to complete and it can take 2-3 weeks for ECG to perform our verification checks.

You should also inform your family member or friend of the process, so they know what to expect and are comfortable engaging with us.

Please complete the permission form to get started >

Ensuring your friend or family member meets the requirements

When choosing someone to look after your child, be sure they meet the legal requirements set out by the UK government:

• They must be a British Citizen or have Settled Status in the UK.
• The Intended Carer must be at least 18 years old, although many schools will insist they are over 25.
• The accommodation must be a private residence.
• The living arrangements must be suitable and pass safety checks.
• Every member of the household must not have committed a “relevant criminal offence”, as referenced in the Child Student Immigration rules.

What’s next?

ECG will conduct a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on every member of the household who is over the age of 16.

We will also visit the house for an in-person interview, ID check, safety checks and inspection.

Please note that in order to fulfil visa requirements, the DBS checks and inspection have to be completed prior to issuing the Letter of Undertaking which goes with your child’s student for visa application.

If your friend or family member successfully passes the verification process, they will be given full access to our emergency 24/7 phone, WhatsApp, and email service. We will provide our full guardianship support if their plans change and your child needs to alter their travel or accommodation arrangements.

If your nominee does not pass our verification checks, then you can nominate ECG as your full and official guardian and we will take care of all your child’s needs.

Review our full services >

Most schools require international students to use a guardian that is accredited by the Association for the Education and Guardianship of International Students (AEGIS), which rigorously inspects and accredits guardianship organisations throughout the UK. 

English Country Guardians and our parent company Academic Families are recognised to the highest levels by AEGIS, the Boarding Schools’ Association, the British Council, English UK and Youth Mental Health England for our professionalism and expertise. 

Learn more about all of our accreditations and quality marks. 

Once we understand the support your child needs, then we can recommend one of our service packages to meet your requirements - or you can select the service level yourself if you prefer.  You can always move between packages if your needs change.  

We use an international education payment platform – Flywire – which allows you to pay in your local currency and by your preferred payment method – credit and debit card payments as well as local bank transfers are accepted. Flywire guides you each step of the payment process and has support in most languages.