How we regulate quality and standards

We are a risk-based regulator. This means that we monitor a provider more closely where we have information that suggests that the quality or standards of its courses may be of concern.

Our approach to general monitoring is set out in the regulatory framework and in Regulatory advice 15: Guidance on monitoring and intervention.

On 2 March 2022 we published the outcome of our consultation on the regulation of quality and standards. Revised ongoing conditions of registration for quality and standards and revised guidance that underpins those conditions came into effect from 1 May 2022.

We published the outcome to our consultation on regulating student outcomes in July 2022. Revised Condition B3 uses numerical thresholds to identify where performance may require further consideration - this comes into effect on 3 Oct 2022. See Regulatory advice 20: Regulating student outcomes

We are adopting the general monitoring approach set out in the regulatory framework by bringing together a range of information that we already hold for each provider – data that shows performance and context, reportable events (information providers are required to submit to us) and patterns of third-party notifications submitted by students or others. This regulatory intelligence gives us signals about whether further engagement, information gathering, or investigation might be appropriate for an individual provider.

Each year we intend to select a number of quality or standards themes for potential investigation using this general approach, but we may also engage with a provider about matters we have not selected as themes where the intelligence we have signals that it would be appropriate to do so.