Provider typologies 2022: Methodology for grouping OfS-registered providers

This report sets out our new approach to grouping OfS-registered providers in the data and analysis we publish.

In the past we have focused mainly on the UCAS tariff points held by undergraduates. While this approach works well for differentiating between multi-faculty providers with a significant focus on young undergraduate provision, it does not work for providers with different recruitment patterns.

Our new approach better reflects the diversity of the English higher education sector, and helps users of our data to understand the patterns across the sector and for providers with similar characteristics. We have designed two new typologies, based on providers’ financial attributes and the make-up of their student population or study characteristics.

These typologies have no regulatory status. They do not imply any particular regulatory status or judgement of regulatory risk for providers in one group rather than another, and they will not inform our regulatory decision making.