Universities have criticised the Westminster government for planning a “bizarre” inflation-busting 13 per cent increase in the fees paid by universities to fund the English regulator, saying it puts the cost of extra bureaucracy on institutions while ministers make real-terms cuts in student maintenance loans.
The proposed increase for next year – which for the largest universities would amount to a £23,530 rise, taking their total Office for Students registration fee to £204,530 – comes at a time when universities have significant concerns about how the independent English sector regulator is operating and when their tuition fee income has been frozen by the government.
It is understood that the planned increase reflects the OfS’ taking on the “designated quality body” role plus extra responsibilities, such as on campus free speech, given to it by the government in a flurry of ministerial guidance letters.
The OfS is seen as far more subject to ministerial direction and inattentive to university autonomy than its predecessor organisation, the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
