UK Home Office Revokes Bloomsbury Institute's Student Sponsor Licence

The UK Home Office has revoked the Bloomsbury Institute's licence to sponsor international students. This decision follows an initial suspension of the Institute's licence in June and is a result of the institution not meeting the previous BCA compliance thresholds in place before the levels were reset in June.

The revocation of the sponsor licence means that Bloomsbury, formerly the London School of Business and Management, can no longer issue Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). Any CAS already issued also becomes invalid, and any pending visa applications based on a Bloomsbury CAS will be refused. The Institute will also be removed from the Register of Student Sponsors.

The Institute's licence was in the balance this year because Bloomsbury had not maintained compliance with the Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) requirements. The BCA thresholds tightened this year, but Bloomsbury was assessed against the earlier benchmarks, which required that all sponsors maintain a visa refusal rate of less than 10%, an enrolment rate of at least 90%, and a course completion rate of at least 85%.

The Home Office has stated that "Student sponsors must meet the standards required to retain their licence. Failure to meet these standards represents a serious breach of its duties as an international student sponsor, and as a result, [Bloomsbury's] licence was revoked."

## Bloomsbury Institute's Student Body

The Bloomsbury Institute enrolled a total of 1,035 students in the 2024/25 reporting year, with more than 800 of those, or nearly 80%, being international students. The lion's share of international students came from Pakistan, with 93% of the international student body hailing from this country.

The revocation of the sponsor license necessarily places the study programmes of those students, and even the future of the institution, in question. The Home Office says that its priority now is to "minimise disruption for international students already enrolled" at Bloomsbury.

To that end, the Institute "will be permitted to continue teaching its current sponsored students for a short period," the term of which is not specified. Students who cannot complete their studies within that window will be supported to transfer to another institution.

The Home Office has stated that it will support any students who cannot complete their studies at the Institute to transfer to another institution. This provision is an important feature of the Home Office announcement, as it aims to minimise disruption for international students already enrolled at Bloomsbury.

The revocation of the Bloomsbury Institute's sponsor licence on 5 August 2026 follows the suspension of its licence on 9 June 2026, from which point it was forced to also suspend recruitment of international students.

| Sponsor | Visa Refusal Rate | Enrolment Rate | Course Completion Rate | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Bloomsbury Institute | Less than 10% | At least 90% | At least 85% | | Bloomsbury Institute (new thresholds) | Less than 5% | At least 95% | At least 85% |