Our business plan

What we will do in 2026-27

• As part of our ongoing work developing a new integrated approach to assessing quality, we will publish the outcomes of our consultation.
• We will build on our development of indicators to support our understanding of provider-level risks to quality and standards.
• We will continue to assess apprenticeship provision.
• We will continue to engage with organisations working in transnational education.

What we will do in 2026-27

• We will consult on reforming the approach to granting degree awarding powers.
• We will continue to process registration cases, including new registration applications from franchise delivery providers and any new registration applications to access LLE funding.
• We will implement fee charging infrastructure and associated reforms, should the Department for Education (DfE) introduce a registration fee.
• We will investigate regulatory intelligence to inform decisions on registration cases.
• We will be available for university title and name change applications.

What we will do in 2026-27

• We will continue to assess new or updated access and participation plans from those providers that require them, and consider variation requests from those with existing plans.
• We will further integrate the golden thread of equality throughout all regulatory activity.
• We will fund Uni Connect for 2026-27.
• We will publish plans for a future regional access partnership programme subject to confirmation of funding as part of the strategic priorities grant.
• We will publish the final evaluation report on the OfS and UKRI funded programme on widening access to postgraduate research for students from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.
• We will continue to fund TASO as the ‘what works’ centre for equality of opportunity in higher education, supporting the sector to develop evaluation practice and to use high quality evidence to inform intervention choice.
• We will work with TASO and HEAT to launch the Higher Education Evaluation Library to support the sector to publish and share evaluations to continuously improve work on equality of opportunity.

What we will do in 2026-27

• We will support and promote freedom of speech within higher education.
• We will investigate where we have particular concerns in relation to freedom of speech.
• We will prepare for the introduction of a new freedom of speech complaints scheme.

What we will do in 2026-27

• We will prepare for measuring the numbers of students studying modules from 2026-27, and for collecting new data about completion of modules in 2027-28.
• We will continue to analyse the LLE’s implications for our regulatory approach.
• We will continue to contribute to the DfE process to determine providers’ eligibility to offer LLE fundable modules. 
   

What we will do in 2026-27

• We will allocate OfS strategic priorities grant funding to support teaching and infrastructure across the sector, including delivery of capital and other funded competitions.
• We will undertake monitoring and assurance of our funding and evaluation of funded programmes.
• We will reform strategic priorities grant with changes taking effect from 2027-28 onwards.
• We will lead on the development of a market monitoring function that will provide a picture of higher education supply and demand.
   
  

What we will do in 2026-27

• We will complete all quality assessments currently in progress.
• We will open new assessments where we identify potential concerns.
• We will continue informal engagement with providers to address risks early where possible.
• We will further develop our enforcement guidance and processes to ensure that our approach to regulatory interventions is clear and efficient.