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Choosing and managing our agents

We work with an established network of educational agencies. They expertly support applicants and prospective students who plan to study at the University of Liverpool.

The International Recruitment Team selects, appoints and manages the University's network of agents. We identify agents and then screen them to determine if they're suitable partners. We want to work with agents who share our passion for inclusive education and match the University’s dedication to ethical practice. While agents work with us, we provide them with thorough training, as well as dedicated support from both the International Recruitment Team and the International Admissions Team.

As an institution, we are committed to the UK Agent Quality Framework (AQF) and pledge to create and maintain the highest standards of agent management, encouraging informed decision-making and transparency for students, and ensuring the UK remains a leading study destination for international students.

How we choose agents

We’re very selective in our choice of agents. We choose a limited number to make sure that their management is bespoke and effective.

We choose them based on a set of criteria. We look for agents that:

  • Act with integrity, honesty, reliability, good faith, and professionalism at all times
  • Provide accurate, clear, and unambiguous information to students at all stages of the application process
  • Specialise in sending international students to UK universities, not foundation or English language programmes
  • Are familiar with the UK education system. We review the prospective agent’s current volume of UK university registrations to confirm they have substantial experience of enrolling students in UK universities
  • Represent universities that are comparable to the University of Liverpool. We measure this by requesting references from at least two of our existing partners
  • Hold appropriate business licenses and conduct themselves with due regard to the regulatory conditions in the market or markets in which they operate. Where the British Council operate a training programme for agents in that country, we ask that all of our agents undertake this training
  • Have professional counselling facilities. They must be appropriate for hosting interview sessions, displaying materials, and well-located for students and their parents.

How we manage agents

Our team works closely with all representatives to make sure that they have up-to-date information about the University’s programmes, fees, scholarships and application processes. We do this by delivering regular in-country and online training. 

We limit the number of agents we work with in each country. This ensures that our team can offer bespoke and effective support to our network so that prospective students receive excellent customer service.

All of our agents should adhere to the National Code of Ethical Practice for Educational Agents (PDF, 659KB), meaning they operate to the highest ethical standards at all times. 

Agency commission 

The University makes commission payments to approved agents based on them supporting an applicant through to registering as a student. This commercial relationship means that we have a very selective recruitment process and cohesive management of agents, based on the quality of the service they offer to applicants.

Find out more

Find out more about the agents that we’ve appointed to counsel prospective students about their applications to the University.

Please note that the University of Liverpool pays these agents a commission for their work with applicants and for recruiting students to the University.