The UK Boarding Schools’ Association has launched a due diligence service aimed at better supervising the recruitment process of international students.
In partnership with consulting and transparency firm Verisio, BSA will expand it services related to compliance requirements that it already provides to member and affiliated schools.
The agreement, with the consulting firm that specialises in reviewing supply-chain and business processes trying to detect any possible breach of rules, will help British boarding schools ensure admissions is in compliance with national and international legislative frameworks.
The BSA/Verisio Due Diligence Service will allow schools to “know who they are engaging in a relationship with, whether it is an agent, parent, donor or business partner,” Kate Hollyer, director of legal and public affairs at the BSA Group, told The PIE News.
“Based on the information that the BSA/Verisio report will provide, the educational institution can decide whether or not to pursue that relationship.
“This in turn demonstrates to the National Crime Agency and UKVI that the educational institution has a robust due diligence strategy regarding student recruitment,” she explained further.
Schools must carefully examine the sources of funding from international clients in order to detect that money has been obtained legitimately.
“Schools may inadvertently breach sanctions regulations”
In a statement released to announce the launch of the collaboration, BSA remarked that the recruitment of international students is beneficial to the British school sector as a whole.
It does, however, entail risks which should be “appropriately considered and mitigated through the admissions process”.
“It is possible that schools may inadvertently breach sanctions regulations and become exposed to significant reputational risks where the source of international funds is not being adequately reviewed,” the organisation said.
“Student sponsor schools also have a duty to ensure they are recruiting genuine international students, mitigating against the risk of exploitation and trafficking,” it added.
The service will also check global sanctions and political exposure in regards to the source of funds, as well as perform accurate checks on high-risk jurisdictions and provide final commentaries on the source of wealth.
The post UK: BSA launches due diligence on recruitment appeared first on The PIE News.
