Quick guide to the consultation on new registration conditions

Part 1 of our consultation seeks views on a new proposed initial condition of registration, condition C5.

The proposed new initial condition C5 would require providers applying to be registered to treat students fairly.

We are making these proposals because students invest time, money and effort in their higher education experience. They should be treated fairly and receive what they have been promised. Putting this new condition in place would strengthen protections for students.

Condition C5 would replace the existing initial conditions C1 (guidance on consumer protection law) and C3 (student protection plan).

What are we proposing?

We are proposing to test whether a provider treats students fairly by reviewing it against assessment criteria which identify when a provider does not treat students fairly.

To assess this, we propose to review the provider’s policies and student-facing documents, such as:

• terms and conditions
• other contracts students are required to sign, for example for scholarships or contracts tied to the use of facilities
• policies relating to the circumstances in which a provider may make changes to its courses
• complaints processes
• refund and compensation policies
• information published on the provider’s website.

We also propose that a provider would need to submit a submission checklist and a declaration form about relevant matters.

If, in our view, the provider engages in unfair treatment of students in our assessment, we would not register the provider.

Examples of unfair treatment

Examples of actions we consider to be unfair include:

• including unfair or incomprehensible terms and conditions in student contracts
• failing to provide information about additional course costs
• presenting inaccurate or false information, for example claiming to offer degrees without having degree awarding powers
• creating barriers to making a complaint
• publishing fake reviews or failing to publish negative reviews.

We have drafted a full ‘OfS prohibited behaviours list’ (see Annex D of the consultation) which outlines what we consider to be unfair treatment.