The Committee’s report on the Office for Students (OfS) finds that the regulator has poor relations with providers and students, a controlling and arbitrary approach to regulation, and lacks independence from the Government.
A new report by the Industry and Regulators Committee published today warns that the OfS and the Government are failing to act on the looming financial crisis facing the higher education sector.
After hearing from students, university leaders, current and former ministers, the OfS, the Quality Assurance Agency, and representative bodies, the Industry and Regulators Committee raises concerns that the sector has become dangerously dependent on international and postgraduate student fees to compensate for increased costs, tuition fee freezes for home undergraduate students, and reduced EU research funding.
The Committee’s report, Must do better: the Office for Students and the looming crisis facing higher education, also criticises the performance of the OfS, concluding that it is failing to meet the needs of students and is not trusted by many of the providers it regulates. It also raises concerns that the OfS lacks independence from the Government, and that its actions often appear driven by the ebb and flow of short-term political priorities and media headlines.
