If a provider wishes to suspend or withdraw their application to register, they should contact us at [email protected] to discuss.
Suspending an application
We will consider requests to suspend an application to register on a case by case basis.
Providers must be able to demonstrate a clear rationale for any suspension.
Any agreed suspensions will be subject to a reasonable time limit, and this will not normally be longer than three months.
Withdrawing an application
A provider may normally withdraw its application to register at any time, up until the point when it receives:
- any draft report from the designated quality body (DQB) of the OfS about quality or standards where this contains negative judgements, or
- a provisional decision from the OfS that it is 'minded to refuse' the application.
Although any application for withdrawal will be considered on its own merits, it is our expectation that providers that receive a negative draft report either from the designated quality body or the OfS about quality or standards, or a 'minded to refuse' registration decision from the OfS, will not usually be permitted to withdraw.
This is because in cases where there are serious concerns and evidence that demonstrate that one, or more, of the initial conditions of registration are not satisfied, it is important that the OfS’s decision making process is concluded, in the interests of transparency for students and other stakeholders.
Final decisions regarding registration, both positive and negative, are published on the OfS website.
Reapplying following withdrawal of an application
If a provider has previously withdrawn from the application process, it may reapply at any time.
We will consider each application on a case by case basis, however, we are likely to prioritise the assessment of applications made by providers that are applying for the first time ahead of providers that have previously applied and have withdrawn.
This may mean that our assessment of any subsequent registration applications may take significantly longer than the standard timeframes.
