England’s higher education regulator, the Office for Students,
has today assured students that it is actively monitoring
universities with significant numbers of students being required
to take all their courses online as a result of local coronavirus
(COVID-19) restrictions.
Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the OfS, said today:
‘Our universities and colleges have been working hard and in
unprecedented circumstances to deliver a mix of in-person, online
and blended learning this term. They are often making rapid
changes to how they deliver their courses as a result of changing
public health advice –taking necessary steps to deliver good
quality, properly resourced, online learning. But in doing so it
is vital that they honour the promises they made to students when
they applied and that the quality of what is on offer online
remains high.
‘We are actively monitoring the situation – and engaging with a
number of universities to ensure that they are delivering good
quality teaching for all students. We are:
- directly engaging with universities, colleges and other
higher education providers that have moved to Public Health
England’s Tier 3, to ensure that they are communicating changed
arrangements for teaching and learning clearly, and to ensure
that they will maintain the quality of their provision that is
accessible for all
- engaging in this way with any university or college which
moves to Tier 3 or Tier 4
- following up directly with individual universities and
colleges where we receive notifications from students, parents or
others raising concerns about the quality of teaching on offer
- requiring universities and colleges to report to us when they
are not able to deliver a course or award a qualification
- monitoring data on universities and colleges’ performance
which may indicate issues with the quality of provision, for
example drop-out rates
- planning to conduct additional student polling to understand
students’ experience of teaching and learning. In September, we
commissioned a
pollof over 1,400 students to find out how teaching,
learning and assessment were affected during lockdown. The
planned polling will assist us in understanding whether there
have been any changes in students views since then.
‘We issued guidance in April making it clear that we expect
universities and colleges to ensure that the quality of provision
is maintained, and to make all reasonable efforts to provide
alternative teaching and support for students that are broadly
equivalent to their usual arrangements, where face to face
contact is no longer possible. That guidance continues to be
relevant and important.
‘We also regulate consumer protection issues, and in June we
published further guidance saying that we expect universities and
colleges to make all reasonable efforts to fulfil their contracts
with students to deliver higher education that is broadly
equivalent to that which was originally advertised, even if that
is being delivered online. We also stressed the importance of
being clear with first year students about how courses would be
delivered this year, including changes that might occur if there
were a lockdown.
‘With the rapid changes in course delivery as a result of public
health advice, we are actively seeking assurances from individual
universities and colleges about the quality of their online and
blended offers, and that the course will be delivered as promised
during the current academic year even if changes are required for
public health reasons. Indeed, while online teaching is of course
different to face-to-face teaching, many universities and
colleges have developed innovative and good quality digital
provision for their students. Where we believe universities and
colleges are not delivering on this, we can investigate and take
action if the quality of courses falls below our minimum
requirements.’
ENDS
For further information contact Richard Foord on 0117 905 7676 or
press@officeforstudents.org.uk
Notes
- We have statutory powers to take enforcement action if we
considered there to be a breach of our conditions of
registration. We are able to impose additional requirements on a
provider to remedy any breach we find. We are also able to impose
a monetary penalty or restrict a provider’s access to sources of
funding.
- We are actively following-up on reportable events and
notifications. Where we have significant concerns, we may
investigate further, for example, by calling in evidence from a
provider, or commissioning expert onsite investigations or
reviews. We may also commission polling targeted at the students
of a particular provider where our monitoring activity suggests
there may be concerns.
- The OfS does not regulate student accommodation or the
provision of pastoral support. Our role is to ensure universities
are doing all they can continue to provide high quality teaching
and learning for all students, whether that provision is
face-to-face, blended, or online.
- Last week our Student Panel released a
statement about its expectations of universities in
relation to the support they are providing to students who are
self-isolating.
