Many accredited centres choose to use the services of accommodation providers registered with the British Council for the provision of student accommodation including homestays, private homes, student houses and residential accommodation.

Registration allows accommodation providers to display a badge on their publicity to promote their organisation as registered by the British Council. Registration does not, however,  cover the provision of accommodation to individual customers or language centres that are not accredited by the British Council.

The benefit to an accredited centre is that during their periodic inspection, their accommodation will not require inspection if it is provided by a registered accommodation provider. With registration, the accommodation provider is inspected once every four years and as long as the criteria are met, any accredited centres using that registered provider are automatically marked as met for accommodation.

Accredited language centres do not have to use a registered accommodation provider. Accommodation provisions can be included in the language centre’s re-inspection if they have not been separately inspected.

To apply for registration as an accommodation provider, please email the Unit at Accreditation.Unit@britishcouncil.org and a member of the team will be in touch. An initial scrutiny fee of £200 is charged to process registration applications.

Evaluate your organisation against the Inspection criteria (PDF) using our Self-evaluation template 2026 (Word)

Complete the online form New registration form for Accommodation providers, and download the Information sharing agreement (Word) and send along with supporting documents via email to accreditation.unit@britishcouncil.org

Once your application has been checked and approved, we will inform you and pass it to our Inspections Coordinator to arrange an inspection. In stage 2 – You will be required to submit additional documentation. Please refer to the following resources to guide your preparation: Inspection documents and guidance

Once your inspection has taken place your report may identify areas of weakness and points to be addressed.  Action taken on these points can be recorded on an Action Plan via your centre’s SharePoint link.

At the start of each year you will receive a request to complete an Annual declaration. This information is used to calculate your banding level and annual fee. Annual fee requests are issued in April each year.

If there are material changes within your organisation such as a change in ownership, management, or premises - please notify the Accreditation Unit by completing a Notification of change form.

Re-inspection All registered accommodation providers are subject to re-inspection every four years. The Accreditation Unit will contact you in advance with proposed inspection dates and application deadlines.

An annual membership fee of £300 is charged for registration with an additional premium levied depending on the numbers of students accommodated  this is charged on a sliding scale depending on the size of your organisation.

Accommodation providers are put into bands A – G, A being the smallest. If your business is new, you will automatically be placed at the lowest band A, and your banding level will be reassessed the following year. 

An inspection of registered accommodation providers with typically take 2-2.5 days depending on the scale of the organisation. The inspection will incorporate remote meetings with head office, client centres, and a selection of students and homestay hosts, with in-person visits to a number of accommodations – the number will be calculated on the scale of your organisation.

The estimated cost of an inspection will range from £1,500 to £3,500 and will vary depending on the size and complexity of your organisation. For detailed cost estimates, refer to the Fees Sheet 2026  or contact the Accreditation Unit directly.

Ongoing Costs After registration:

  • Annual membership fee: Calculated based on your organisations banding level A – G which is based on the  number of students accommodated in the previous year. New businesses will be set at band A.
  • Re-inspection costs (every 4 years): Required to maintain accreditation. Costs are worked out on an individual basis for each and are comparable to the initial inspection.
  • Spot check Inspection (within the first 18 months of registration): An additional cost of approximately £700 will be charged for a routine or unscheduled inspection to look at any material change in the organisation if necessary.

Timely payment of the annual membership fee and any inspection fee is essential to retain your registered status.

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