Keep Your A-Rating Sponsor Licence

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Every new sponsor licence starts on an A-rating; keeping it depends on ongoing compliance, not a one-off application.
A B-rating freezes new Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) assignments, so your overseas hiring stops until you regain the A.
Regaining an A-rating costs £1,579 for a Home Office action plan, plus lost recruitment time and public exposure on the register.
Most downgrades follow a missed SMS reporting deadline or weak record-keeping, not fraud.
Quarterly self-audits and trained key personnel are the cheapest insurance against a downgrade.

Protecting Your UK Sponsor Licence A-Rating

While every UK sponsor licence starts with an A-rating, maintaining it requires strict, ongoing sponsor licence compliance. This guide helps HR and mobility teams protect their hiring status and avoid catastrophic recruitment freezes.

Unrestricted hiring: An A-rating allows you to assign Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) freely to secure global talent.
The B-rating freeze: Slipping to a B-rating instantly halts all new overseas recruitment until compliance issues are resolved.
Costly penalties: Regaining your status requires a mandatory Home Office action plan, or you risk having your licence revoked entirely.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

What Is an A-Rating Sponsor Licence?

A sponsor licence is Home Office permission to employ overseas workers on sponsored routes like the Skilled Worker visa. Every new sponsor licence is granted an A-rating, which marks you as fully compliant and free to sponsor.

An A-rated sponsor, UK-wide: you can assign CoS to new and existing workers on the routes you are licensed for.
Worker A rating meaning: a "Worker" licence rated A on the public register can sponsor Skilled Workers; a Temporary Worker licence covers short-term routes only.
Publicly visible: your rating shows on the GOV.UK register of licensed sponsors for candidates and partners to check.
Granted, not permanent: the Home Office can downgrade you at any point if you stop meeting your duties.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

A-Rating vs B-Rating: What It Means for Your Hiring

The gap between the two ratings is simple but expensive. An A-rating means business as usual. A B-rating puts your overseas recruitment on hold.

A-rating: assign new CoS freely and keep hiring from abroad without extra restriction.
B-rating: no new CoS for new hires until you regain the A-rating.
Existing staff: you can usually still extend workers you already sponsor while B-rated.
Confirm before you rely on it: you can check your current sponsor licence rating on the Home Office register in minutes.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

What Triggers a B-Rating Downgrade

Most downgrades follow a compliance visit or a missed reporting deadline, not fraud. The Home Office is running more unannounced audits in 2026, so small gaps get found.

Late SMS reporting: missing the 10 or 20 working-day windows to report worker or organisational changes.
Weak record-keeping: incomplete right-to-work checks or worker files under Appendix D record-keeping rules.
Role or salary mismatch: the job a worker actually does no longer matches their CoS.
Key personnel gaps: an inactive Authorising Officer or an untrained Level 1 User on your SMS.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

How to Keep Your A-Rating Sponsor Licence

Staying A-rated is an HR discipline, not a one-off task. Build the controls once and the rating largely looks after itself.

Report on time, every time: log worker changes in the Sponsor Management System inside the deadline.
Run proper right-to-work checks: use the online service and keep dated evidence for every sponsored hire.
Audit yourself quarterly: review CoS, worker files, and salaries against your sponsor licence compliance duties before the Home Office does.
Keep key personnel active: a trained Authorising Officer and Level 1 User who genuinely own the process.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

What a B-Rating Downgrade Costs Your Business

A downgrade is not just a label. It carries a direct fee, stalled recruitment, and a fixed deadline to fix everything or lose the licence.

Cost and impact of a B-rating downgrade

Impact	What it means for you
Action plan fee	£1,579 paid to the Home Office to work back to an A-rating
New hiring	Frozen; no new CoS for new overseas hires until the A-rating is restored
Time limit	A fixed action-plan deadline; miss it and the licence can be revoked entirely
Reputation	Your rating is public on the GOV.UK register for candidates and partners to see

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

When to Bring in Expert Support

If your rating has already dropped, or an audit is looming, speed matters. Getting the action plan response wrong can cost you the licence entirely.

Rating at risk: you have compliance gaps but no system to close them quickly.
Scaling fast: hiring volume is outgrowing your manual, spreadsheet-based tracking.
Audit incoming: you want a clean, defensible file before a Home Office visit.

Jobbatical manages UK sponsor licence compliance end-to-end, from SMS reporting and CoS issuance to audit preparation and key personnel changes. Book a free consultation to protect your A-rating.

An A rating sponsor licence is quick to earn and quick to lose. Treat compliance as a standing process rather than a project, and you keep your ability to hire global talent intact.

Disclaimer: Immigration rules change quite frequently; please verify with official sources or contact us for the latest info before making any decisions.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Frequently Asked Questions - A-Rating Sponsor Licence

What is an A-rating sponsor licence?

An A-rating sponsor licence is the Home Office's confirmation that your organisation is fully compliant and trusted to sponsor overseas workers. It lets you assign Certificates of Sponsorship without restriction. Every new licence is granted an A-rating, and your rating appears on the public register of licensed sponsors.

What is a sponsorship licence?

A sponsorship licence, or sponsor licence, is Home Office permission for a UK business to employ non-UK workers on sponsored routes such as the Skilled Worker visa. Without one, you cannot legally issue a Certificate of Sponsorship or hire from outside the UK settled workforce.

What is the difference between an A-rating and a B-rating?

An A-rating means full compliance and unrestricted sponsorship. A B-rating means the Home Office has found compliance gaps and placed you on a paid action plan. While B-rated, you cannot assign new CoS to new hires, though you can usually still extend existing sponsored workers.

What causes a sponsor licence to be downgraded to a B-rating?

Common triggers are late reporting through the Sponsor Management System, incomplete right-to-work or worker records, a role or salary that no longer matches the CoS, and inactive key personnel. Most downgrades follow a compliance visit or a missed reporting deadline rather than deliberate fraud.

How much does it cost to regain an A-rating?

The Home Office action plan fee to move from a B-rating back to an A-rating is £1,579. On top of that, you carry the cost of frozen recruitment and any legal or consultancy support needed to fix the underlying gaps within the action plan deadline.

Can a B-rated sponsor still employ existing workers?

Yes. A B-rated sponsor can usually continue employing current sponsored workers and can issue CoS for those workers extending their stay. The restriction is on new hires: you cannot assign CoS to bring in new overseas talent until your A-rating is restored.

Inna Chapman

Inna Chapman is a Global Mobility Agent at Jobbatical, supporting HR teams that hire and relocate international talent into the United Kingdom. She manages her own UK caseload end-to-end — preparing documentation for Skilled Worker visa applications, Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) support, biometric enrolment and eVisa transitions, and settle-in appointments once employees arrive. Her work covers day-to-day coordination through UKVI processes, right-to-work checks, Immigration Health Surcharge steps, and family reunification alongside the primary applicant. Inna sits inside Jobbatical's dedicated UK immigration function, part of a platform that has delivered 17,000+ relocations for 1,000+ companies across 45+ countries and tracks UKVI policy changes as they filter into the Immigration Rules

Was this helpful?

Yes No