Securing student success: Regulatory framework for higher education in England

A ‘qualifying course’ means a course subject to the regulated undergraduate tuition fee regime: this includes those undergraduate courses and postgraduate initial teacher training courses for which Student Loan Company (SLC) student support may be provided.

An ‘access and participation plan’ means a document or documents complying with sections 30-32 and approved under section 29 of HERA.

To register in the Approved (fee cap) category and be able to charge fees above the basic amount to qualifying persons on qualifying courses subject to regulated undergraduate fees during an academic year for which the access and participation plan is in force, a provider must first have this plan approved by the OfS.

he Director for Fair Access and Participation, under authority delegated from the OfS board, has published guidance on priorities and expectations for access and participation plans, and the approach to approving them, in accordance with section 29(4) of HERA.

A provider will satisfy this condition by continuing to have an approved access and participation plan in force for any period in which it intends to charge fees above the basic amount.

In judging whether a provider has taken all reasonable steps to comply with the provisions of its plan, the OfS will have regard to:

During registration, the OfS will assess a provider’s access and participation plan and will approve a plan that meets the OfS’s requirements.

The OfS will monitor a provider’s performance against the objectives and targets in its access and participation plan on the basis set out in ‘Regulatory Notice 1: Guidance on access and participation plans for 2019-20’. Where the OfS is concerned that a provider may not have taken all reasonable steps to comply with the provisions of its plan it may request further information to assess the steps that have been taken by the provider and may make further interventions, including the imposition of a specific ongoing condition of registration to ensure that reasonable steps are taken and sufficient progress made.

Where the OfS determines that a provider has not taken all reasonable steps to deliver a general provision of its access and participation plan and so has breached this condition of registration, it may use its sanctions powers. In particular, it has the power under section 21 of HERA to notify a provider that it will refuse to agree a new access and participation plan for a period specified in the notice. Paragraphs 197-199 above set out the process for such a refusal.

In order to determine whether or not a provider is complying with this condition on an ongoing basis, the OfS’s judgement will be informed by the provider’s behaviour, as well as information submitted by the provider or available to OfS.

The following are non-exhaustive examples of behaviours that may indicate compliance with this general ongoing condition. The provider:

• has an approved plan in place
• is delivering the objectives and targets in its plan
• has a governing body that is appropriately engaged with monitoring of performance against the provisions of its plan
• is taking reasonable steps to comply with the provisions of its plan and has taken appropriate action where it appears that the intentions of the plan may not be delivered.

The following are non-exhaustive examples of behaviours that may indicate non-compliance with these general ongoing conditions. The provider:

• does not have an approved plan in force for any period in which the provider intends to charge fees above the basic amount
• has not put in place appropriate arrangements to monitor its performance against the provisions of its plan and/or has not taken appropriate action where it appears that the intentions of the plan may not be delivered.