ABC Cambridge has announced an initiative aiming to allow non-EEA students to continue joining school groups from the European Union to study at its English language school in Cambridge.
The FAVA scheme will see ABC support the cost of visa application for non-EEA school children wanting to join a trip with their EEA-based school, following changes in immigration regulations due to Brexit.
“ABC Cambridge’s mission is to respect equality, diversity and inclusion in helping people from the global community to learn English,” said the school’s managing director Ben Whittaker.
“We strongly believe that those from minority backgrounds and those without EU registered travel documents should have the same access to educational trips as their classmates, with no additional cost.”
Following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, immigration rule changes around the ‘list of travellers’ in October will mean non-EEA students residing in the EEA or Switzerland will be require to obtain visas for school trips, including short programs.
The change poses problems for many students and families and a fee which could equal the cost of the trip, the English school noted.
“We’d like to offer help to ease the financial burden”
“With this in mind, and in cases where some members of a visiting group would need to apply for UK visas, we’d like to offer help to ease the financial burden,” Whittaker added.
“We hope agents and client schools will view this scheme as a positive move from ABC to help bridge the gap for those students who may otherwise find themselves unable to take part in such a key educational travel experience.”
ABC will initially offer the scheme to groups between October 1 2021 and December 2022 and will extend it subject to the economic climate and changes in UK immigration policies.
