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
If you are refused registration, you will not be able to access certain benefits related to being a registered higher education provider. You will be able to continue to recruit students but they would not have access to the student support system.
In the interests of transparency and facilitating informed student choices, the Office for Students (OfS) publishes information about providers it has decided not to register. Information can be found on our refused registration decisions webpage.
Suspending or withdrawing an application
The OfS 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.
Providers may normally withdraw their application to register at any time, up until the point they receive a draft Quality and Standards Review (QSR) report from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) where this contains negative judgements or an initial decision from the OfS that it is ‘minded to refuse’ the application.
Although each application for withdrawal will be considered on its own merits, it is our expectation that providers that receive a negative draft QSR from the QAA or a 'minded to refuse' registration decision from the OfS will not usually be permitted to withdraw.
It is the OfS’s view that in cases where there are serious concerns and evidence that demonstrate one, or more, of the initial conditions of registration are not satisfied, it is important that the decision making process is concluded, in the interests of transparency for students and other stakeholders.
Reapplying for registration
Providers that withdraw may reapply at any time.
Providers that receive a final refusal decision may reapply once they are able to demonstrate that the concerns identified in the final decision letter have been fully addressed, such that the initial conditions of registration can be satisfied.
