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Office for Students' regulation: What improvements can be made?
Last updated on Tuesday 13 Jun 2023 at 10:51am
In March 2023, the Industry and Regulators Committee in the House of Lords launched an inquiry into the work of the Office for Students (OfS). This has been an opportunity to consider how well the OfS’s regulation has been working, where things could be improved, what those improvements would look like, and how they could be achieved.
What does our evidence say?
Our evidence explained that we felt the duties of the OfS are clear and appropriate, and that we agree with the OfS on what its priorities should be: quality and standards, equality of opportunity, and enabling regulation. We also discussed our shared interest in ensuring higher education in England is subject to robust and effective regulation and that we are committed to working with the regulator to understand and address any outstanding challenges. We have highlighted the areas where this has happened already and where progress has been made, but also those areas where there is still more to be done.
We are committed to working with the regulator to understand and address any outstanding challenges.
The OfS has already demonstrated a willingness to respond to sector feedback in areas such as provider engagement. In the next phase of its operation, our evidence sets out how we would like to see the OfS and government prioritise the following challenges.
What are the current challenges?
Challenge 1: regulatory burden
There is a large amount of activity generated by OfS regulation. The OfS has begun to address this by reducing requirements in some areas, but in other areas such as data collection it remains a challenge. We have commissioned Moorhouse Consulting to help us understand these issues better and hope to use this to provide constructive solutions for reducing the burden further.
Challenge 2: investigations
Investigations are a necessary part of risk-based regulation, but we think the processes for engaging with providers under investigation could be improved. We have recommended the OfS establishes terms of engagement that to ensure an investigation is – and is accepted as – transparent, consistent, and fair, focusing on stages before, at launch and during, and after an investigation.
Challenge 3: expansion
The OfS already covers a wide range of issues, with 25 conditions of registration. We think government and the regulator are sometimes too quick to see regulation as the answer and that in some cases, a more collaborative approach that involves working with the sector, can be more appropriate and have better results. We also think there is a risk that the OfS takes on too much, and that there should be a mechanism to review issues and whether a regulatory approach remains necessary.
Challenge 4: measuring value for money
The OfS approach to measuring value for money is helpful, but over-reliant on a narrow set of indicators. UUK has developed a toolkit to help assess value, recognising the importance of existing outcomes-led approaches, but also other measures such as the value added for certain groups, graduate views, support for economic growth, and social impact. We also think there needs to be a review of how the OfS itself can demonstrate value for money.
Challenge 5: provider engagement
The OfS commissioned work last year that identified challenges in how they communicate with providers, and in response there have been several positive developments. However, there is still a feeling that OfS could improve its approach to consultation to make them a more effective way for universities to give feedback.
Challenge 6: independence
Between 2018 and March 2023, the OfS had received as many as 26 pieces of published government advice and guidance. Partly a symptom of regular ministerial changes, we cannot ignore the additional pressure this puts on the OfS to adjust its priorities and approaches. We would like to see the OfS given more space to establish itself as an independent regulator and to consolidate its current activity.
What do we recommend?
We are recommending that the evidence and inquiry findings inform the terms of reference for an upcoming public bodies review of the OfS, scheduled for 2023-24. This review will require an independent chair, but we have also recommended the chair is supported by an expert panel. The review should look to consider the performance of the OfS as well as the relationship between the regulator, its sponsoring department, and government ministers