The Home Office suspended Buckinghamshire New University’s Student sponsor licence on 30 September 2026 over concerns about how it meets its duties as a visa sponsor, and took it off the list of institutions allowed to bring in international students. A sponsor licence is the permission a UK university needs to issue a CAS, the reference number every Student visa application rests on.
Indian students already studying at the university, known as BNU, can carry on while their visas stay valid. Anyone holding a BNU offer, a CAS or a pending visa application is stuck until the Home Office decides whether to restore or revoke the licence. BNU’s 20 working days to reply run to about 28 October on our count, and the decision follows, so the safe course for these applicants is to pay nothing more and not to fly until it comes.
What did the Home Office announce about Buckinghamshire New University?
The Home Office notice, published on GOV.UK at 3pm UK time, 7:30pm in India, says the suspension “took effect immediately” and that BNU has 20 working days to respond. If the university does not show that its licence should be reinstated, the licence will be revoked, which means cancelled outright.
Students currently sponsored by the university can continue their studies while the suspension is in place, as long as their permission to stay remains valid.
Home Office, 30 September 2026
The only reason given is “concerns about the university’s compliance with its sponsor duties”. Sponsor duties are the checks a licensed university must carry out, such as assessing each applicant’s English and academic record before it issues a CAS, and tracking whether students actually attend. The Home Office’s student sponsor compliance guidance lists them, but the notice doesn’t say which one is in question.
BNU does not appear in the register of student sponsors the Home Office updated at 2:35pm UK time on 30 September. It still holds an A rating on the separate register for employers, since its licence to hire overseas staff is untouched. Domestic students are not affected at all. BNU had posted no statement on its website by 9:45pm India time. The PIE News, a trade paper for international education, reports that BNU had 1,530 international students in 2024/25, citing official HESA data that we could not open to check.
What does the suspension mean for Indian students already studying at BNU?
Students already in the UK on a BNU-sponsored Student visa can keep studying while the licence is suspended, as long as that visa stays valid. BNU’s own calendar set enrolment for its September intake on 28 September, with teaching from 5 October, so this covers students who have only just enrolled. Three situations carry more risk than simply attending class.
- Extending your visa. BNU can’t issue a new CAS while it is off the register. An extension made with a CAS issued before the suspension is judged case by case under the compliance guidance, and may be held until the licence is decided.
- Travelling home for a break. The same guidance says a student outside the UK who travels on an existing visa does so “at their own risk” if the licence is later revoked.
- The Graduate route. The post-study work visa requires that you were “last sponsored by a Student sponsor which is a higher education provider with a track record of compliance on the date of application”, under Appendix Graduate.
That last rule matters more than it looks. The Immigration Rules define a Student sponsor as one “listed on the register of licensed sponsors”, and BNU is not listed today. On our reading, a BNU graduate who applies for the Graduate route while the suspension lasts may not meet the rule as written. The Home Office hasn’t said how it will treat those applications.
What happens to BNU offers, CAS numbers and pending visa applications?
Everything that depends on new sponsorship by BNU stops while the suspension lasts. BNU cannot issue a CAS, a visa application already made will be held and not granted until the Home Office decides, and an offer letter without a CAS cannot support a visa at all. The table sets out each stage an Indian applicant might be at.
| Where you are with BNU | During the suspension | If the licence is revoked |
|---|---|---|
| Studying in the UK now | Carry on while your visa is valid | Some time to keep studying at BNU, or your visa cut to 60 days |
| Visa granted, not yet in the UK | You can travel, but at your own risk | Visa cancelled and entry refused; the visa fee and the health surcharge paid with it are not refunded |
| Visa applied for, decision awaited | Held, not granted, and you may be asked for an interview | Refused |
| CAS issued, visa not yet applied for | An unused CAS can be blocked, and a new application is held | Refused |
| January 2027 offer, no CAS yet | BNU cannot issue a CAS; its own CAS request deadline is 13 November 2026 | No CAS, so you need a different university |
Based on the Home Office’s Student sponsor compliance guidance, version 06/2026, paragraphs 3.8 and 6.1 to 6.10, its guide for students, and BNU’s international application deadlines, all read on 30 September 2026.
If your application is on hold, the GOV.UK guide for students gives two choices, waiting for the decision or withdrawing the application. A new application for another university needs a fresh CAS from that university and a new UK Student visa fee.
The 20 working days end on Wednesday 28 October if the clock started on 30 September, the day of the decision. That is our own count, since the Home Office did not publish the date of its letter to BNU, and its guidance allows longer while it considers the university’s reply. January applicants will probably hear before BNU’s 13 November CAS request deadline, but nobody can promise that. BNU says its CAS deposit is “usually at least 50% of your first year tuition fee”, and we found no BNU terms on refunding that deposit if the licence goes.
What happens to BNU students if the Home Office revokes the licence?
If the licence is revoked, students already studying either get a limited teach-out at BNU or have their visas cut to 60 days, and anyone who has not yet travelled loses their visa. The Home Office, not BNU, decides who gets a teach-out, and a university has no right of appeal against revocation under the guidance.
A teach-out is a fixed period in which students may keep studying with a university that has lost its licence. It can last up to six months or until the end of the student’s current academic year, whichever is longer, according to paragraph 6.7 of the compliance guidance. The Home Office weighs BNU’s past compliance, how many students it has, how soon their courses end and whether the university stays solvent. A one-year master’s student may be able to finish, while a first-year undergraduate on a three-year degree couldn’t finish within any teach-out.
A student who cannot finish has 60 days to find a new university and apply for a new visa, paying the application fee and health surcharge again, or leave the UK. Students the Home Office thinks were involved in the reasons for revocation lose their visas at once.
A revoked university is also barred from the register for a presumed two years, counted from the date the Home Office first notified it and removed it from the register. If that date is 30 September 2026, BNU could not sponsor new international students until about September 2028, unless the Home Office sets a shorter ban.
Has Buckinghamshire New University had its sponsor licence suspended before?
Yes, once. The Home Office suspended its licence on 9 March 2015 after refusing to renew its Highly Trusted Sponsor status, which it needed to keep its licence, and the university was later sponsoring international students again. We could not find a public record of when that suspension ended.
The 2015 problem was visa refusals. Times Higher Education reported that BNU missed the limit by 1.16 percentage points, which it said equalled three students. The limit was 20%, which The PIE News first reported as 10% and later corrected. The two notices, eleven years apart, treat students quite differently.
| Question | March 2015 notice | September 2026 notice and current guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Reason given | Renewal of its Highly Trusted Sponsor status refused | “Concerns about the university’s compliance with its sponsor duties” |
| Licence to hire overseas staff | Suspended as well | Not affected |
| Current students if the licence is revoked | “We’ll let you continue your studies or work until your visa or leave to remain expires” | A limited teach-out, or the visa cut to 60 days |
| Students with a visa who have not travelled | “We strongly advise you not to travel to the UK until the suspension has been resolved” | Travel is at the student’s own risk |
The yearly compliance check every university sponsor must pass also got stricter on 1 June 2026. The compliance guidance sets three minimums, measured on the university’s own students over the 12 months before it applies for the check. The refusal rate is the share of its visa applicants refused, the enrolment rate is the share of visa holders who turn up and enrol, and the completion rate is the share who finish their course.
| Measure | Checks applied for before 1 June 2026 | From 1 June 2026 | From 1 June 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visa refusal rate | Below 10% | Below 5% | Below 5% |
| Enrolment rate | At least 90% | At least 95% | At least 95% |
| Course completion rate | At least 85% | At least 85% | At least 90% |
Indians applied for 89,763 sponsored study visas in the year to June 2026, more than any other nationality, and 3,846 of the 87,804 decisions were refusals, or 4.4%. That is our calculation from the Home Office’s own visa tables, and it puts the national Indian refusal rate just under the new 5% line. The Home Office publishes no refusal figures for individual universities, and its notice does not say whether refusals have anything to do with BNU this time.
Our view: what should Indian students with a BNU offer or visa do now?
In our reading, revocation is the likelier outcome. The notice matches the stage where the Home Office has decided to revoke and is waiting for the university’s reply, and at that stage its guidance calls reinstatement “highly unlikely” unless no serious breach happened. BNU did come back after 2015, so reinstatement is possible.
What we would do depends on where you are.
- January 2027 offer, no visa yet. We would pay BNU nothing more and get a second offer now from a university whose January CAS timeline still works. A one-year UK master’s elsewhere is usually the closest swap, and the wider list of UK universities is a good place to start. Waiting until 28 October leaves little time, as BNU’s own 13 November CAS date shows.
- Visa granted, not yet travelled. We would not fly before the decision. Even the 2015 notice advised against travel, and today’s rules put the whole risk of a cancelled visa on the student.
- Already studying at BNU. You are in the strongest position. Keep attending and keep copies of your CAS, eVisa record and fee receipts, because if the licence is revoked, the Home Office can cancel at once the visa of anyone it judges was not a genuine student.
For anyone paying a CAS deposit to any UK university from now on, the register of student sponsors is worth checking on the day of payment.
- The Home Office suspended Buckinghamshire New University’s Student sponsor licence on 30 September 2026 and removed it from the register of student sponsors.
- Current BNU students can keep studying while their visas are valid, but BNU cannot issue any new CAS and pending visa applications are held.
- BNU has 20 working days to respond, which ends on 28 October if counted from 30 September, and the Home Office then decides whether to reinstate or revoke the licence.
- If revoked, visas not yet used are cancelled without a refund of the visa fee or health surcharge, and current students get a teach-out of up to six months or to the end of the academic year, or 60 days.
- BNU’s licence was last suspended on 9 March 2015, over visa refusals.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still join Buckinghamshire New University in January 2027?
Only if the Home Office reinstates BNU’s licence in time for it to issue your CAS, since no Student visa is possible without one. BNU’s own deadline for CAS requests is 13 November 2026, and its 20 working days to reply end around 28 October. A second offer from another university protects your January start either way.
Will my Student visa be cancelled because BNU’s licence was suspended?
No, not during the suspension. The Home Office says students already sponsored by BNU can continue while their permission stays valid. If the licence is later revoked, the Home Office either allows a teach-out of up to six months or to the end of your academic year, or cuts your visa to 60 days.
Can BNU graduates apply for the Graduate route while the licence is suspended?
This is unclear, and the Home Office hasn’t said. Appendix Graduate requires your last sponsor to be a Student sponsor with a track record of compliance on the date you apply, and the Immigration Rules define a Student sponsor as one listed on the register. BNU is not listed while suspended, so an application now carries real risk.
How long will the suspension of BNU’s sponsor licence last?
The Home Office gave BNU 20 working days to respond from its decision, which ends on 28 October 2026 if counted from 30 September. The guidance lets the Home Office take longer to consider the university’s reply. A revoked licence normally means a two-year ban before BNU can sponsor students again.
Sources
All sources read on 30 September 2026.
- Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration, “Buckinghamshire New University: Student sponsor licence suspension”, 30 September 2026
- Home Office, Register of licensed sponsors: students, updated 30 September 2026 and Register of licensed sponsors: workers, updated 30 September 2026
- Home Office, Student sponsor guidance, Document 3: Student sponsor compliance, version 06/2026 (removal from the register, revocation, teach-out, the ban, annual compliance thresholds)
- GOV.UK, Students: if your education provider loses its sponsor licence or has it suspended
- Immigration Rules, Appendix Graduate and Immigration Rules, introduction (definition of Student sponsor)
- Home Office, Immigration system statistics data tables, year ending June 2026 (table Vis_04 and dataset Vis_D02, sponsored study visas by nationality)
- Buckinghamshire New University, International students: how to apply (intake dates, CAS deadlines, CAS deposit)
- UK Visas and Immigration, “Buckinghamshire New University: sponsor licence suspension”, 9 March 2015
- Times Higher Education, “Bucks New University’s visa licence suspended”, March 2015 and The PIE News, 11 March 2015
- The PIE News, “UK Home Office suspends Buckinghamshire New University’s student sponsor licence”, 30 September 2026 (international student numbers, citing HESA)
