Quality and standards assessments for providers applying to register

When a provider first registers with the OfS, we assess whether it will meet our conditions of registration for quality and standards. 

Assessment against the ‘initial conditions’ of registration – conditions B7 and B8 of our ‘B’ conditions – form one stage in the process of registration.

Broadly, a registering provider must be able to show that:

• it can meet our ongoing requirements for quality if it is registered
• the academic standards of awards granted to students who complete a higher education course it provides will, if the provider is registered, be consistent with our sector-recognised standards.

These requirements apply to the provider seeking registration, even when that provider is providing courses in partnership with one or more other providers.

We have published details of all the conditions for quality and standards, including initial conditions B7 and B8. Please see the regulatory framework for the full version.

How we assess providers seeking registration

A provider seeking registration may not have a track record of delivering higher education. Or if it does, it will often have plans to change and expand its current offer.

Our assessments test the credibility of a provider’s plans to meet the OfS’s quality requirements on an ongoing basis.

To this end, a provider applying for registration should submit a quality plan and supporting evidence. These should explain in detail how it will comply with our ongoing conditions of registration. 

Among other key information, the quality plan should:

• map against each of the requirements in conditions B1, B2, and B4
• explain the provider’s plans and processes for achieving and maintaining compliance with each requirement, or the evidence already available which demonstrates compliance
• be supported by an evidence base which is explicitly referenced
• set out specific milestones and dates for key aspects of the development and delivery of the courses that the provider plans to deliver if registered.

We will also assess how a provider will, if it is registered, meet our requirement that the awards it grants to students should be consistent with our sector-recognised standards.  In this area, providers will need to submit:

• final or draft course documentation, (for example, programme specifications, module outlines) for the courses it intends to offer
• where it exists, evidence of student achievement in assessed work and associated records of this achievement for any courses it has delivered or is delivering.

Providers need to submit evidence to us which shows how the higher education courses they offer – or plan to offer – will comply with these requirements.

Assessment visits

When we review a provider’s quality plan, we will decide whether we need to visit the provider.

We will consider the form that a visit should take, and whether it should be undertaken by assessors who can provide expert academic judgement. 

A visit may include interviews with relevant staff and students.

We work with independent academic assessors and their advice informs our decisions.

We have a large pool of academic assessors, and we continue to expand this resource. These academic assessors are expert practitioners drawn from a broad range of providers and from various subject specialisms.

We would normally expect to commission the same assessment team to assess quality (for condition B7) and standards (for condition B8) at the same time.

Costs

We charge a fixed fee of £28,463 for a quality and standards assessment of a provider seeking registration.