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
4 results
Clear
14 Conclusion Deferred
Twenty-Eighth Report - Student loa…
Significant growth in student numbers at franchised providers concentrated in few institutions.
Between 2018/19 and 2021/22 the number of franchised providers increased 6%, but the number of students attending them more than doubled from 50,440 (2.5% of all students) to 108,600 (4.7% of all students). Some 63,680 (59%) of the 108,600 students … Read more
Government Response
The government is proposing to consult on proposals to strengthen oversight of partnership delivery in higher education, working closely with the OfS, and will set out these proposals by January 2025. They will also develop options for legislative change, if required, for a more robust model for protecting public money.
HM Treasury
View details
15 Recommendation Deferred
Twenty-Eighth Report - Student loa…
Inadequate governance and safeguards by lead providers over franchised institutions risk fraud and misuse.
DfE recognises that the franchising model creates risks, given it encourages providers to do new things, but accepts that some lead providers have not taken their responsibilities for governance and safeguards in their franchised providers as seriously as within their … Read more
Government Response
The government is proposing to consult on proposals to strengthen oversight of partnership delivery in higher education, working closely with the OfS, and will set out these proposals by January 2025. They will also develop options for legislative change, if required, for a more robust model for protecting public money.
HM Treasury
View details
16 Recommendation Deferred
Twenty-Eighth Report - Student loa…
Numerous franchised providers operate unregistered, including some previously denied OfS registration.
There is no statutory or regulatory obligation on franchised providers to register directly with OfS. The lead provider retains responsibility for a franchised provider’s compliance with academic quality, financial sustainability, governance and accountability standards. In 2021/22, 229 (65%) of the … Read more
Government Response
The government is proposing to consult on proposals to strengthen oversight of partnership delivery in higher education, working closely with the OfS, and will set out these proposals by January 2025. They will also develop options for legislative change, if required, for a more robust model for protecting public money.
HM Treasury
View details
17 Recommendation Deferred
Twenty-Eighth Report - Student loa…
DfE considers requiring all franchised higher education providers to register with OfS.
DfE told us that even if a provider could not meet all the registration criteria it might still be a good franchisee. DfE recognised, equally, that if providers do not pass that threshold, it would be right to question them … Read more
Government Response
The government proposes to consult on proposals to strengthen oversight of partnership delivery in higher education by January 2025, working closely with the OfS, and will develop options for legislative change if required.
HM Treasury
View details
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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