Family and Dependant Support
Practical support for the people moving with you.
Studying abroad can affect the whole family. Partners, children and parents may need to plan around education, accommodation, travel, documents and settling into a new country.
Study With FM helps families organise these practical arrangements alongside the student's education plans. Whether you are preparing to travel together or supporting a child who will study overseas, we can help you make a clearer plan, with a named adviser to guide the agreed work.
Why family planning matters
When several people are involved in an international education journey, even straightforward arrangements can become difficult to coordinate. You may be wondering where your family will live, which schools are suitable for your children, how to prepare for travel or where to find reliable information about immigration procedures.
We bring the education-related and practical tasks together, helping you understand what needs attention, what can be arranged and which matters require a specialist provider or regulated professional.
Who this service is for
Family and Dependant Support may be suitable for:
- Students planning an overseas move with a partner or children, where the destination's rules permit it.
- Parents arranging education, accommodation or welfare support for a child studying abroad.
- Families looking for schools for accompanying children, including those with additional learning or accessibility needs.
- Families coordinating accommodation, documents, travel preparations and arrival arrangements.
The support available depends on your destination, circumstances and agreed service.
What you can expect
Depending on your family's needs, we can help you work towards:
- A practical plan with priorities, key dates and next steps.
- Better-organised family and education-related documents.
- School, accommodation and arrival options to consider.
- Access to relevant official information and suitable independent providers.
- Clearer coordination between the services and people involved in your move.
Our role is to help you prepare and coordinate arrangements, not to guarantee decisions made by immigration authorities, schools or accommodation providers.
How we can support your family
Family planning and coordination
We start with the student's destination, institution, course and intended start date, then consider who else is involved and what each family member may need. We can help map education plans, important dates, accommodation preferences, travel arrangements and any additional support requirements.
Dependant and parent application administration
If family members are considering an immigration application, we can direct you to official published guidance and help with permitted administrative tasks. Depending on the destination and agreed service, this may include:
- Organising information and documents provided by your family.
- Preparing a checklist based on the published application process.
- Explaining general online steps and appointment procedures.
- Providing technical help with an applicant-led form or document upload, where permitted.
- Helping you keep track of administrative stages and correspondence.
You remain responsible for your answers, evidence, decisions and submission. Study With FM is not registered with the UK's Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) and does not provide regulated UK immigration advice or representation. We cannot assess your personal eligibility, choose an immigration route for you or determine whether evidence meets legal requirements. When you need that advice, we can direct you to an appropriately authorised professional.
Education for accompanying children
If your children will need school places, we can help research suitable day schools or boarding schools, explain published admissions processes, identify deadlines and organise application documents. Full school application assistance may be included in your agreed family service or provided through our separate School and Boarding School Applications service.
Where relevant, we can consider special educational needs (SEN), disability, neurodivergence and accessibility requirements when researching options. Schools and specialist providers are responsible for confirming the support they can offer. Admission is always subject to the relevant school's or admissions authority's decision.
Family accommodation
We can help research university accommodation and private rental options, taking account of family size, location, access to schools, travel times, budget and practical preferences.
Where agreed and available, we may communicate with accommodation providers, coordinate viewings and help with booking-related administration. Landlords, universities and other providers remain responsible for availability, acceptance, property conditions, fees and contractual terms. We do not provide legal advice on tenancies or guarantee accommodation.
Childcare and nursery options
If childcare or nursery provision is part of your family's planning, we can research available options and refer you to independent providers where agreed. We do not provide childcare ourselves; families should confirm suitability, safeguarding arrangements, fees and availability directly with the provider.
Pre-departure, arrival and settling in
We can help organise practical preparations such as travel dates, essential documents, school start arrangements, emergency contacts, airport transfers and accommodation check-in. Where included, we can also coordinate local orientation and other settling-in support after arrival, directly or through relevant providers.
Specific travel bookings, transport and third-party arrangements are included only where separately agreed.
Educational guardianship and student welfare
Some school students need educational guardianship or other welfare arrangements. We can discuss available options and, where appropriate, help coordinate an independent provider or a separately agreed guardianship arrangement.
Guardianship is not automatically part of Family and Dependant Support. Educational guardianship does not, by itself, transfer legal parental responsibility. Arrangements involving children are subject to the relevant safeguarding procedures and agreed terms.
UK immigration information for families
Students who wish to bring a partner or children
Not every international student in the UK can bring dependants under the Student visa route. Current UK guidance limits this possibility to specified circumstances, including government-sponsored students on courses lasting more than six months and certain full-time postgraduate students on courses lasting at least nine months. For postgraduate courses starting on or after 1 January 2024, the course must be a PhD, another doctorate or a research-based higher degree.
Other rules also apply. This is general information, not an assessment of your family's eligibility. Check the current GOV.UK guidance for Student visa dependants and obtain regulated immigration advice if you need an individual assessment.
Parents of younger students
The UK has a limited Parent of a Child Student visa route. Under current published guidance, the child must have or be applying for Child Student permission, be aged 4 to 11 when the parent applies and attend an independent school. Only one parent can accompany the child under this route, and other requirements apply.
This is not a general right for parents of students to live in the UK. See the official Parent of a Child Student visa guidance for current rules. We can help you find general procedural information, but not determine whether you qualify.
You work with a named adviser
Every family-support client has a named Study With FM adviser as their main point of contact. Your adviser helps coordinate the work you have agreed, so you know whom to contact and do not have to explain your circumstances to a different person each time.
How the process works
Family consultation
We discuss the student's education plans, the people involved and your main practical concerns.
Agree the support you need
We identify priorities, confirm what we can assist with, explain any exclusions and agree the scope and any applicable fee before work begins.
Organise information and documents
We help build a practical checklist and organise the information relevant to the agreed service.
Coordinate education and living arrangements
Where included, we support school research or applications, accommodation enquiries and other relevant family preparations.
Support permitted administrative steps
If needed, we provide general information and technical assistance with applicant-led processes, referring any matter requiring regulated advice to an authorised professional.
Prepare for departure and arrival
We review the remaining practical steps and coordinate further arrival or settling-in support where agreed.
When should we start?
As early as reasonably possible. The time needed will depend on the destination, school admissions cycles, family size, housing availability, required documents, immigration procedures and the student's start date. We cannot control third-party processing times or guarantee a particular completion date.
What we need from you
We will ask only for information relevant to the support you choose. This may include:
- The student's destination, institution, programme and intended start date.
- Which family members are involved and the arrangements you are considering.
- Children's ages and educational needs, where relevant.
- Accommodation preferences, budget and intended travel dates.
- Relevant applicant-provided documents, information and parental consent where required.
We may need to request additional details as the work progresses, particularly where child welfare or accessibility arrangements are involved.
What is and is not included
Your written service confirmation will explain the work Study With FM will provide. Family planning, school research or applications, accommodation coordination, permitted immigration administration, childcare-provider research and arrival support are included only to the extent agreed for your case.
Unless explicitly agreed, the service fee does not cover school tuition or registration fees, government visa or healthcare charges, rent or deposits, flights, transport, insurance, translation, certification, childcare, nursery provision, guardianship fees or other third-party costs.
We do not provide regulated UK immigration advice or representation, legal or family-law advice, tax or benefits advice, regulated financial advice, medical treatment, or tenancy-law advice. Where these are needed, you should use a suitably qualified professional.
Fees for family and dependant support
Fees are determined case by case according to the work your family needs. We will confirm the agreed services, any Study With FM fee and relevant exclusions before work begins.
Government charges, school fees, accommodation costs and other third-party expenses are separate unless your written agreement expressly states otherwise. External fees and availability may change.
Frequently asked questions
Planning an international move with your family?
Tell us where the student plans to study, who may be travelling and what arrangements you would like help with. We will discuss the support available, the next practical steps and the scope and fees that would apply to your family.