ICEF Agency Status

Independent accreditation for education agencies

Agency Application View the IAS Directory

ICEF Agency Status (IAS) is an independent accreditation framework that verifies the identity and baseline eligibility of education agencies involved in international student recruitment.

IAS currently includes over 2,300 accredited agencies across approximately 135 countries. It is designed for professional agencies that operate as established businesses, with defined ownership, accountable leadership, transparent structures, and a long-term approach to working with education providers.

IAS is not about size, recruitment volume, or geography, but about whether an agency can be clearly identified, understood, and referenced by institutions and partners.

Who IAS is for

IAS is for agencies that want their identity, structure, and eligibility to be transparent and clearly understood by education providers.

It is particularly relevant for agencies that want an independent reference point that does not rely solely on personal relationships.

IAS is not designed for informal operators or unstructured arrangements. It reflects how professional agencies already operate and how institutions increasingly expect to work with partners.

What ICEF reviews

IAS focuses on verifiable fundamentals, not promises or future behaviour.

As part of the IAS process, ICEF reviews and records:

legal existence and ownership
declared operating location(s)
operating history and continuity
declared scope of activity
institutional references
publicly visible digital presence (web, social media)

This information is reviewed by ICEF and maintained as a structured agency record. IAS does not assess recruitment performance, student outcomes, or future conduct.

What IAS represents

IAS confirms that an agency:

exists as a real, identifiable organisation
meets ICEF’s baseline eligibility criteria
can be transparently referenced by institutions and partners

For many institutions, IAS functions as a practical starting point when identifying and reviewing potential agency partners.

Why established agencies choose IAS

Many IAS agencies have operated successfully for years or decades and maintain long-standing relationships with education providers. They do not apply for IAS to replace reputation or to prove quality.

They apply because the operating environment around them has changed.

Institutions are professionalising partner selection, responding to increasing regulatory scrutiny, and relying less on informal or purely relationship-based engagement. As a result, many institutions reference IAS within their own partner engagement and review approaches and increasingly use it as a practical starting point when deciding which agencies to engage with.

For some agencies, IAS is not about expanding networks, but about protecting them. As institutions evolve, staff change, and oversight becomes more formal, long-standing relationships increasingly need to be supported by a clear, independent reference point. IAS formalises what is already known, helping established partnerships continue smoothly without agencies having to repeatedly re-introduce themselves.

How IAS is used

Education providers make their own independent decisions about how they engage with agencies.

Many institutions reference IAS within their own quality assurance or partner engagement approaches, in line with internal policies and regulatory context. These decisions are made independently by institutions, according to their own requirements and risk frameworks.

IAS supports institutional due diligence. It does not replace it.

Governance and fairness

IAS is governed independently and includes a defined adjudication process for reported breaches of the ICEF Agency Code of Conduct.

Concerns are reviewed through a structured process designed to ensure fairness, proportionality, and due process.

Learn more about IAS governance and adjudication.

Applying for IAS

Agencies interested in ICEF Agency Status may contact ICEF or speak with their regional ICEF representative with any questions.

Applications are assessed against defined eligibility criteria and reviewed by ICEF.

ICEF Agency Status is designed to make agency identity and eligibility easier to understand and reference across institutions and markets. For agencies operating professionally over the long term, IAS provides a stable, independent point of reference that supports continuity as institutional expectations, staffing, and oversight frameworks evolve.

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