Value for Money
Regulating the financial sustainability of higher education providers in England
Published 9 March 2022
7 recommendations
Department for Education
Business and industryCommercial and financial managementEducation, training and skillsFinancial sustainabilityFurther and higher educationRegulation
nao.org.uk
This report looks at the Office for Student’s responsibilities for financial regulation of higher education providers.
Recommendations (7)
Source: NAO Recommendations Tracker · PAC follow-up below
Department for Education
Rec 1
Accepted
Implemented
The Department should:
a) review, improve and agree with the OfS the key performance measures and other indicators it uses to hold the OfS to account, to include measures
of the impact of the regulatory regime, rather than measures outside the OfS’s control;
Department for Education
Rec 2
Accepted
Implemented
b) make clear what tolerance the government has for provider failure, and the circumstances under which it would or would not intervene; and
Department for Education
Rec 3
Accepted
No Longer Relevant
c) together with the OfS, assess how redistribution of student numbers between providers, as a result of higher A-level grades awarded in 2020 and 2021,
has affected students’ experiences and providers’ finances, and draw on this to understand the likely consequences following release of A-level grades
awarded in 2022.
Office for Students
Rec 4
Accepted
Implemented
The OfS should:
d) communicate more effectively with the sector to build trust in its approach as a regulator; improve providers’ understanding of its attitude to risk and how it defines risk-based, proportionate, regulation; and be more ready to share sector insights to improve efficiency and competitiveness in the sector;
Office for Students
Rec 5
Accepted
Implemented
e) set out how it will secure provider and stakeholder views of its work;
Office for Students
Rec 6
Accepted
No Longer Relevant
f) review, improve where necessary and then reauthorise student protection plans for all providers to ensure they remain adequate and can respond to new risks; and
Office for Students
Rec 7
Accepted
Implemented
g) prioritise finalising its key performance indicator on how it assesses the value for money students see in their education and set out how its work will reverse students’ declining satisfaction rates.
Parliamentary Committee Follow-Up
The Public Accounts Committee examined this NAO report and published its own recommendations. The government responds to PAC recommendations via Treasury Minutes.
Eighth Report - Financial sustainability of the higher education sector in England
Public Accounts Committee
· 15 June 2022
· 11 recommendations