Investigation into student loans issued to those studying at franchised higher education providers

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 10 Jan 2024 Closed: 29 May 2024 Parliament page
Higher education providers can create partnerships, or ‘franchises’, with other institutions to provide courses on their behalf. These franchised providers are not required to register with the Office for Students (OfS), which regulates higher education. Lead providers keep responsibility for teaching quality and protecting students’ interests. In 2022 and 2023, … Read more
9 Recommendations
18 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Letter
1 Event
Activity timeline 5 events
11 Jul
2025
Report published
24 Apr
2024
Report published
18 Mar
2024
Correspondence
26 Feb
2024
Oral evidence
26 Feb
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
26 Feb 2024
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Investigation into student loans issued to those studying at franchised higher education providers
Chris Larmer · Student Loans Company Julia Kinniburgh · Department for Education Susan Acland-Hood · The Department for Education Susan Lapworth · Office for Students
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Twenty-Eighth Report - Student loans issued to those studying at… HC 455 24 Apr 2024 27 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
3 results
Clear
11 Recommendation Acknowledged
Twenty-Eighth Report - Student loa…
Lack of transparency regarding tuition fee retention by lead providers in franchise arrangements.
The C&AG’s report indicated that some lead providers retained between 12.5% and 30% of tuition fees received for courses at their franchised providers.25 DfE confirmed that the information is not in the public domain and that students are not always … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the need for greater transparency over franchising arrangements, notes a sector-led response by Universities UK, and will ask the Office for Students to consider requiring providers to publish details on the proportion of tuition fees they retain and for what purposes.
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion Acknowledged
Twenty-Eighth Report - Student loa…
Fraud involving franchised providers makes up over half of all detected student loan fraud.
The value of detected fraud in 2022/23 involving franchised providers totalled £2.2 million, 53% of the total £4.1 million fraud SLC identified.49 In our July 2023report on tackling fraud and corruption across government, we concluded that tackling fraud cannot be … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the importance of addressing fraud and misuse of student funding and highlights existing collaborations and protocols between DfE, SLC, and OfS, including data sharing and incident response plans, while considering further improvements.
HM Treasury
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21 Conclusion Acknowledged
Twenty-Eighth Report - Student loa…
Detected fraud value at franchised providers increased disproportionately despite stable student numbers.
We asked why the value of detected fraud at franchised providers has increased almost sevenfold, from £329,831 in 2018/19 to £2,163,459 in 2022/23, when the number of 43 Universities UK (ISL0002) 44 Universities UK (ISL0002) 45 Qq 39–41, 74; C&AG’s … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the increase in detected fraud at franchised providers and highlights existing collaborations and protocols between DfE, SLC, and OfS, including data sharing and incident response plans, while considering further improvements.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 26 of 9 classified
Accepted 17
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 3
Deferred 4
Rejected 1
Total 9 recs + 18 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
18 Mar 2024 Correspondence from Susan Acland-Hood, Permanent Secretary, Department for Education, re Investigation into student loans issued to those studying at franchised higher education providers follow-up, dated 8 March 2024
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