Secretary of State for Education (): I am today announcing
that I have taken action against Oxford Business College, a
private provider of Higher Education courses franchised by five
institutions registered with the Office for Students.
My Department became aware last year of credible concerns about
the recruitment and attendance of students on courses offered by
the College, for which students are eligible for student support.
I therefore commissioned the Government Internal Audit Agency to
investigate these concerns, and have now received and carefully
considered its reports, which have been shared with the College
and its partners for comment.
It is clear to me that the management of recruitment and
attendance at the College has fallen well short of the standards
I am entitled to expect; this is unfair on those students who
have genuinely wished to study. In particular, the investigation
has not been able to provide me with assurance that students'
prior attainment, including their competence in the English
Language, has been adequately assessed, or that their attendance
on their courses has been adequately monitored. I am aware that a
number of the College's partners have already terminated their
agreements with it or have imposed additional controls.
I have therefore informed the College that new students on its
courses will not be eligible for student support with immediate
effect. The College's partners have all told me that they have
initiated planning for student protection, in conjunction with
the Office for Students, which will allow genuine students to
transfer to new courses. I recognise that this will be
challenging, and have, therefore, allowed the College's partners
until the end of the current Academic Year on 31 August to
complete those transfers, during which time the students.
affected will be able to retain their maintenance and fee
support, provided they remain engaged with their studies. If they
transfer, they will be able to receive funding to complete their
studies.
These decisions reflect my determination to stamp out any abuse
of the student support system. I will not hesitate to do the same
again if circumstances justify it.
Last month, the government set out the further steps it is taking
to address concerns about franchised provision. This included
asking the Public Sector Fraud Authority to help coordinate the
cross-government response to address the serious allegations I
referred to in my statement on 25 March.
The government consultation on proposals to strengthen oversight
of partnership delivery in higher education closed on 4 April.
The responses to this consultation are being considered carefully
to ensure that the government response will be effective in
preventing abuse of student support and poor quality in
franchised provision. I will update parliament when the
government response is published.
