Recruitment through educational agents

The Agent Quality Framework (AQF) is a UK-wide initiative designed to ensure ethical and high-quality recruitment of international students.

De Montfort University is committed to the principles of the AQF and works to ensure that our recruitment practices align with its expectations, supporting genuine students and maintaining the integrity of the UK’s immigration system.

The AQF recognises the critical role that agents and counsellors play in attracting and supporting international students on their journey to study in the UK. It provides a suite of guidance and quality assurance tools designed to enhance the partnership between UK education providers on the register of licensed student sponsors and their agent/counsellor representatives.

There are nine parts to the AQF:

1. A student and parent guide to choosing an education agent – a guide supporting students and their parents on what they should look for when selecting an agent, including links to the national code of ethical practice for education agents. A PDF/print version of this guide is available at the bottom of this page.
2. National code of ethical practice for education agents – a code of practice setting out the standards and best practice that education agents and agent aggregators, brokers and marketplaces (digital agent networks) representing UK education providers on the register of licensed student sponsors must adhere to.
3. Good practice guide for providers using education agents – a guide to education agent management best practice for UK education providers on the register of licensed student sponsors. The information in the guide allows providers new and established to international recruitment to use it as a step-by-step guide, minimising their risk and embedding resource-efficient processes.
4. Good practice guide for UK education agents partnering for quality – a guide enabling all agents and representatives partnering with UK providers on the register of licensed student sponsors to deliver high quality applicant experiences.
5. Agent Quality Framework pledge – a pledge enabling UK education providers on the register of licensed student sponsors to demonstrate their commitment to the AQF.
6. British Council UK certified counsellor training – training providing agents and counsellors with knowledge and awareness of the UK as a study destination, which certifies them through assessments.
7. British Council UK agent and counsellor training and engagement hub – the hub includes all the information that agents and counsellors need when serving UK-bound international students.
8. British Council database of certified counsellors – students and parents can access a public-facing database of certified counsellors who have passed the training.
9. AQF agency management course – training providing international education agencies who recruit students for UK higher education providers with sufficient knowledge and understanding of the AQF.