How to register

What can registered providers do?

Latest on applying to register

From 16 December 2020, the Office for Students is open to new registration applications:

All applications must be submitted via the registration application portal. In order to access the portal, applicants will require an access key.
If you do not already have an access key, please send an email to [email protected] to ask for an access key request form. We will then send you a short form to complete and return to us, following which an access key will be generated and sent to you.
The OfS is in the process of contacting recent enquirers to provide them with the access key request form: if you have requested one from us we will respond shortly.

Read the current guidance on applying to register

Under the 2017 Higher Education and Research Act (HERA), a higher education provider in England is required to register with the OfS if it wishes to:

access public grant funding (such as funding to support teaching), and/or student support funding (such as enabling students at a provider to access student finance)
apply to the Home Office for a student sponsor licence to recruit international students, or to maintain an existing licence. From 4 January 2021, the student sponsor licence has replaced the Tier 4 Sponsor licence as the route for providers to sponsor students who wish to study in the UK
apply for degree awarding powers in order to award their own degrees, and/or university title.

Providers can choose to apply to register in one of two categories:

Approved (fee cap)
Approved.

A provider may subsequently choose to apply to change its registration category.

Registering in each category enables providers to do different things, as shown in the table below.

All registered providers are regulated by the OfS and must meet regulatory requirements that are proportionate to the risks to student and taxpayer interests.

		Approved (fee cap)	Approved
Public grant funding	Eligibility for direct grant funding provided by UKRI through Research England under section 97 of HERA	Yes	No
	Eligibility for OfS teaching grant funding or any other OfS payments under sections 39 or 40 of HERA	Yes	No
	Ability to apply for research council funding	Yes	Yes
	Ability for eligible students studying on eligible undergraduate courses to apply for support under the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 (as amended)	Yes	Yes
	Ability for eligible students studying on eligible postgraduate courses to apply for support under the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 (as amended)	Yes	Yes
	Ability for eligible students studying on eligible courses to apply for Disabled Students’ Allowance under the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 (as amended)	Yes	Yes
Student sponsor licence	Eligibility to make an application to the Home Office to recruit international students with a student sponsor licence	Yes	Yes
Degree awarding powers and university title	Eligibility to apply for authorisation to grant one or more of the following awards: a. Foundation degrees b. Awards in specific subjects c. Awards at bachelor-level d. Any taught awards e. Research awards	Yes	Yes
	Eligibility to apply to use ‘university’ or ‘university college’ in a provider’s title	Yes	Yes

Published 17 November 2020
Last updated 26 April 2021 + show all updates

26 April 2021: Updated to reflect student sponsor licence replacing Tier 4 sponsor licence
16 December 2020: Update to the latest information about applying to register with the OfS.

Help us improve your experience

Describe your experience of using this website

What were you doing on the website? * Is there anything you liked or disliked? *

How to register

What can registered providers do?

Share this page:

Thank you for your feedback