Having the Office for Students as England’s regulator “looking out for the interests of students” is “essential”, according to its former chief executive, as the regulator comes under increasing criticism and scrutiny.
Nicola Dandridge was speaking after leaving the OfS in April last year and becoming a professor of practice in higher education policy at the University of Bristol, where she plans to examine sector issues such as the relationship between teaching and research, and how students make their choices about where and what to study.
Alongside former OfS chair Sir Michael Barber, Professor Dandridge gave evidence to a House of Lords committee as it begun an inquiry into the OfS, covering issues including “its independence from and relationship with the government” and “whether it has the necessary expertise and resources to carry out its functions”.
Many university leaders are concerned by what they see as the OfS’ failure to be risk-based in regulation, resulting in demands that all institutions provide a huge amount of data, and by a perceived failure to maintain independence from Conservative administrations that have sometimes been hostile to universities on issues such as free speech.
