Education Minister (): Today I am laying
regulations under section 71 of the Higher Education and Research
Act 2017. These regulations will enable the Office for Students
(OfS) to charge a fee for the investigation of providers’
compliance with quality and other requirements, where the
investigation results in certain regulatory action or specified
outcomes. These regulations will come into effect on the
8th December 2022.
Improving the quality of higher education is a manifesto
commitment, and one of my highest priorities. This Government is
committed to ensuring that students and the taxpayer see returns
on their investment and receive value-for-money. Accordingly, my
Department is working with the OfS to implement a rigorous regime
of investigations and in-person inspections that ensures robust
action is taken where quality conditions of registration have
been breached, or are at risk of being breached. I am also
committed to ensuring the majority of providers, which are not in
breach of the regulatory conditions, experience minimal
regulatory burden.
The OfS will identify providers for investigation using a range
of information sources, including outcomes data, student
notifications, and other monitoring. My predecessor asked the OfS
to put ‘boots on the ground’ where necessary, and investigate
universities where there are concerns about the quality of
provision. These investigations will examine a range of quality
matters, including: whether courses are sufficiently up-to-date
and academically challenging; whether students receive enough
face-to-face engagement; and the extent to which providers secure
positive outcomes for students.
Where the OfS finds that a provider’s performance just isn’t good
enough, it may choose to take enforcement action. This could
involve a sanction such as a monetary penalty or, if necessary,
even go as far as the removal of a provider from the register.
This work will effectively tackle pockets of poor quality
provision, and ensure all students, regardless of their
background, can benefit from high quality, world-leading higher
education.
In order to fund this regime sustainably, as well as deter
against the growth of poor quality provision, these regulations
will allow the OfS to charge a fee for the investigation of
providers’ compliance with quality and other requirements, where
the investigation results in certain regulatory action or
specified outcomes, such as the imposition of a specific ongoing
condition of registration. Doing so will help to ensure that the
costs of investigations will fall on those responsible for their
necessity, and that those in good standing face a more
proportionate regulatory burden than would be the case if we did
not lay these regulations.
