Background
The HPA works with the Home Office to provide migrant endorsements (‘work permits’) for polo players, grooms, coaches, polo pony trainers, and other team staff via the International Sportsperson visa.
Migrants applying to come to the UK under the International Sportsperson route need to be sponsored by an organisation or player that has an International Sportsperson sponsor licence. The HPA Endorsement criteria is reviewed annually by the Home Office using a broad set of data across all sectors including data put forward from the polo industry.
In 2024, the HPA issued over 700 endorsements, of which 80% were for grooms and only 7% were issued for players. The remaining 13% covered coaches, umpires, and other team staff.
Update from the Home Office
The HPA meets with the Home Office on an annual basis to review the criteria for migrant endorsements. Despite clear evidence of the groom cap proving effective, there is ongoing and increasing pressure from the Home Office that their expectation is for the numbers of migrant grooms to be managed year on year.
We know and understand the challenges in relation to groom employment: the seasonal nature of the work, the high number of grooms needed for the relatively short English season, patrons and players having their own grooms that travel with them, and the highly skilled nature of the work, particularly in the High Goal where grooms are often polo pony trainers as well as grooms.
Nevertheless, it is considered by the Home Office that the HPA must continue to develop British grooms. We need to be proactive, both to ensure we can continue to endorse migrant grooms, and to ensure that, if anything changes, we have suitably qualified British grooms prepared to work in the polo industry.
Migrant Endorsement Apprenticeship Levy
Following agreement from Stewards in November 2024, the HPA will support a pilot apprenticeship scheme in 2024/2025 which will allow a small number of polo schools to host apprentices for a 12-month period, during which time they will undertake their Level 2 Equine Groom Apprenticeship course, which is a nationally recognised qualification. At the end of the 12 months, they will be able to be employed in the wider polo community, and new apprenticeship students will take up the positions. These polo schools have been selected as they have previously successfully operated apprenticeship schemes.
The Level 2 Equine Groom Apprenticeship qualification covers a wide variety of topics to produce capable, well-rounded grooms, and apprentices may choose to specialise further. The aim of this scheme is to develop grooms with experience of polo who will be suitably qualified to work for teams and players in the UK, providing high standards of care and the right skills to stay and progress in the polo industry, eventually reducing the need for migrant grooms.
As these polo schools will be investing considerable time and resources to train the grooms, they will be eligible to receive HPA funding to support the development of these apprentices. This will be split across all migrant endorsements at a levy of an additional £60 per endorsement, bringing the total cost of a migrant endorsement to £260.
The Migrant Endorsement Apprenticeship Levy will apply to all migrant endorsement applications made from 1 December 2024 and it is anticipated that the first grooms will start their apprenticeships this winter.
