WELCOME…. TO THE PRO-EXPERIENCE @ THE ACADEMY OF FOOTBALL!

The Academy of football builds upon the proud West Ham United heritage of developing world-class players. The player-development programme is recognised as one of the best in Europe and has been providing top Premier League professional players for many years. The elite high-performance approach integrates the latest sports-technology advances with Premier League training techniques to provide an intensive training programme that will test and optimise your personal performance.

At The Academy, we aim to help you develop the skills you need to succeed in a professional football environment. We place importance on education and we have prepared a great portfolio of academic programmes . Our commitment to education is a priority in our comprehensive training model  and we have the best academic partners to help you succeed; both on and off the pitch.

The main aim for us in this programme is to deliver players of excellence; grounded in West Ham United Foundation player values of Respect, Courage and Tenacity.  Against this background, we are looking to provide the opportunities for young players to experience a professional, elite training environment, whereby they can be supported in continuing their education and fulfilling their potential.

THE ACADEMY OF FOOTBALL

The Academy follows the methodology of West Ham United FC which has a rich history of developing some of England’s greatest footballers such as Bobby Moore, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand ; and most recently, current England international , Declan Rice.

TRAINING LOCATIONS

The main core training delivery takes place at West Ham United Foundation’s dedicated training ground in Beckton, East London. Its purpose built all-weather full-size state of the art 3G surface is flood-lit and UEFA Accredited; ensuring that the playing surface is of the highest quality to aid performance and reduce the risk of injuries occurring. Student athletes will have access to all training facilities; including changing rooms, showers, self-study and teaching rooms at the Foundation.

The programme also integrates training at two additional facilities across East London and Essex.

STUDENT VISAS

We welcome participants, players and groups to our academy programme from around the world. In order to enter the country, a visa is required to enter the UK, as immigration control in the UK affects everyone who is not a British citizen. You need to ensure you´re compliant with a Post-Brexit Travel Assessment.

The Home Office is the Government department responsible for determining UK immigration policy.

https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

Full-time students studying either a BTEC or a Foundation Diploma with us would be eligible to apply for a Tier 4 Student Visa with support provided by us. Letters of confirmation to support each application will be sent by us on receipt of a completed course booking form and payment.

For further information on standard visitor visas directly visit: www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa

For this purpose, we  provide assistant  to you through  highly-experienced Legal Immigration team. They will guide you through the visa process.  Where appropriate, they can make available visa advice and assistance.

Choices International has also partnered with  CIBT a specialist visa company that has become the largest and most well-established travel visa and passport company in the world.

Now any of our participants and players can benefit from this service as they have  the tools, experience, and global network necessary to effectively reduce the time associated with obtaining travel documents and legalizations or advice you regarding any matter related to student visas.

This is an optional service not compulsory, anyhow, their expertise is invaluable due to their success rate. If you do require a visa you can apply yourself or alternatively use any of our partners who offer you advice and all the visa services.

TYPES OF VISAS

There are different types of visas depending on your chosen study- programme: