How to register with the Office for Students

76. The table below provides a guide to the steps in the registration process once you have submitted your provider’s application.

77. Throughout the application process we will consider any additional information that we receive or that is made available to us which includes, but is not limited to, intelligence such as credible notifications we receive about your provider. This may result in a change to our assessment of your provider’s initial conditions of registration. We may request additional information or clarifications if required. If we investigate any regulatory intelligence we receive related to your provider’s application for registration, we will normally publish information related to this as set out in our guidance on our approach to publishing information.³⁷
78. We are likely to have a number of applications for registration at any one time and have a duty to consider using our resources in an efficient and effective way.³⁸ In prioritising applications for assessment, we will exercise reasonable judgement and deal with all applications on a case-by-case basis. Our assessment is likely to take significantly longer where:
    • Providers submit an application that is particularly complex, involving finely balanced judgements about whether the initial conditions are satisfied.
    • Providers seek to amend timelines for the quality and standards assessment after we have confirmed these. We expect providers to meet the timelines for an assessment set out at the beginning of the process, including payment of assessment fees and deadlines in responding to requests for further information. Any changes to the timeline after the assessment process has begun are likely to result in significant delay and may result in additional costs.
    • Providers have complex education portfolios (such as multiple subjects, multiple locations, in partnership with multiple third parties, or novel education delivery models).
    • We receive credible third-party notifications, have existing or new regulatory intelligence about a provider, because we would normally expect to investigate these as part of the registration process.
    • Any relevant individual (as defined in condition E9) is subject to any investigation which is open or opened during the registration application. Paragraphs 97 to 113 of this guidance contain relevant information about how we consider investigations in our assessment of your application for registration, and how this may affect our timelines and your provider’s registration application.
    • Providers intend to submit an application to register at the same time as an application for degree awarding powers (DAPs)³⁹ and delivery of the provider’s business plan relies on successfully obtaining both registration and DAPs. In this situation providers should contact us before submitting any application to discuss likely timelines for decisions. We will not normally expect to start a DAPs assessment before completing our assessment of all initial conditions of registration. This is to avoid a situation in which a provider is unsuccessful in its application for registration but has, nevertheless, already committed time and paid fees for a DAPs assessment.
    • Where we consider that we need to recruit academic assessors with an expertise different to that available in our existing pool, this may result in an extended timeline.⁴⁰ We will contact you if this is the case.
    • If at any point in the process, we reach a provisional decision to refuse your provider’s application, this is likely to extend the timeline for reaching a final decision.
79. This is an illustrative list of circumstances which may affect the timeline of an assessment and is not intended to be exhaustive.

Notes

[35] OfS, ‘Regulatory notice 1: Access and participation plan guidance’.

[36] See The Higher Education (Assessment Fees) (England) Regulations 2023.

[37] OfS, ‘Regulatory advice 21: Publication of information’.

[38] See section two (General duties) Higher Education and Research Act 2017

[39] Providers looking to apply for DAPs should also read ‘Regulatory advice 12: How to apply for degree awarding powers’.

[40] See analysis of responses to consultation and decision (paragraphs 32-33), available at ‘Consultation on quality and standards conditions - Analysis of responses’.

80. We will assess registration applications using the evidence you submit to us, and any other relevant information and intelligence available to us.
81. During the assessment process, we may have additional questions or require further information from your provider. We will write to you setting out our reasons for requiring more information with a requirement for you to submit the information. We will do this by issuing your provider with a bespoke application requirements notice.
82. If your provider fails to provide additional information as required in the bespoke application requirements notice and within the deadlines we set, which will be no less than 28 days,⁴¹ we will normally issue a provisional decision to refuse registration on the basis that your provider has not complied with the requirements for a registration application. Your provider will then have no less than 28 days in which to make representations about our provisional refusal decision before we make any final decision to refuse registration. If you need more time to gather the information, your provider may withdraw its application and reapply at a later date (see ‘Withdrawing an application’ below).
83. If a provider submits a compliant initial application but, during the registration process fails to provide additional further information including the information as set out in part B of the application requirements notice,⁴² we may decide to issue a provisional decision to refuse registration on the basis that the provider had not complied with our requirements for a registration application. The provider would have a 28-day period in which to make representations about the provisional refusal decision before we made any final decision to refuse registration.
84. If you submit information that we believe is inaccurate, we will normally engage with you in the first instance to highlight the issue and discuss the reasons for it. If an inaccuracy is trivial, such as a typographical or data-entry error, we may simply clarify our understanding or request the correct information.
85. If the inaccuracy is non-trivial and suggests an issue with the provider’s control of information, we may consider it appropriate to refuse your provider’s registration application. This will be on the basis that your provider has not complied with our application requirements. Non-trivial inaccuracies might include:
    • record-keeping or a provider’s ability to extract information from its own records correctly
    • an issue with general competency when putting an application together.
86. If we made a provisional decision to refuse registration on this basis, your provider will be given no less than the statutory 28-day representations period during which it could provide an explanation for the inaccuracy or inaccuracies and submit the correct information.
87. If you intentionally submit information that is false or misleading, we would likely make a provisional decision to refuse your provider’s application for non-compliance with the ‘accuracy’ requirement set out in paragraph C of the application requirements notice at Annex A. In this case, even if you do subsequently submit accurate information as part of any representations your provider makes, we may conclude that this does not remedy the original issue(s) with your provider’s application. For example, if you incorrectly disclose any relevant individuals or omit any relevant individuals from your application, we may still reject your submission even if you later provide the correct information as part of your representations.
88. If you have submitted an access and participation plan, there may be a period of discussion and challenge on the detail of your provider’s plan, and you will have the opportunity to make amendments or provide further evidence if appropriate. Further information about this process is set out in ‘Regulatory notice 1: Access and participation plan guidance’.⁴³ If you have any questions about an access and participation plan, you can contact the access and participation plan team at [email protected].
89. As part of your registration application we will assess condition B3 which requires providers to deliver positive outcomes in relation to three student outcome measures: continuation, completion and progression.⁴⁴ The way we will assess whether your provider satisfies initial condition B3 (student outcomes) is set out in ‘Regulatory advice 20: Regulating student outcomes’ (see paragraphs 6 to 34).⁴⁵ Initial condition B3 will apply to your provider if, in our judgement, there is data available which shows your provider’s performance against at least one indicator or split indicator, and that data relates to at least one of the preceding five years.
90. If initial condition B3 applies, we will undertake an initial assessment of all indicators and split indicators, focusing on those that are not at or above the relevant numerical threshold. If we do not judge that your provider’s performance in relation to those indicators and/or split indicators is positive, you may be invited to submit information about the context in which your provider delivered those outcomes for your students. This will happen before we take any provisional or final decision about your provider’s registration application. We will write to you about this during the registration process if required, but you will not otherwise need to submit any information for the assessment of this initial condition.
91. To assess compliance with initial condition B7 we will determine whether it is necessary to undertake an assessment visit to your provider, the form that visit should take, and whether it should be undertaken by assessors able to provide expert academic judgement. Annex G: ‘Your quality plan and supporting evidence for condition B7’ sets out the initial submission requirements for condition B7. We have published guidance on how we will conduct quality assessment visits for condition B7.⁴⁶
92. We will also need to undertake an assessment of academic standards. This assessment provides us with evidence about whether initial condition B8 (standards)⁴⁷ is likely to be satisfied. Guidance on the submission requirements and the B8 assessment process for this are at Annex H: ‘Guidance for providers on the assessment of initial condition B8’.
93. During the registration assessment process, we will notify you when we are ready to begin the academic standards assessment and confirm the initial evidence we require you to submit. We normally expect to commission the same assessment team to assess quality (for condition B7) and standards (for condition B8) at the same time.
94. We will charge providers a fixed fee of £28,463 for assessing the quality of, and the standards applied to, higher education in connection with your application for registration. We will issue a ‘fee notice’ that specifies the period within which your provider must pay the fee in full.⁴⁸ As required under the application requirements notice, you must submit proof of payment within ten working days of our request. If you do not provide proof of payment for your provider’s quality and standards assessment (if it is referred for one) by the deadline we set, we cannot proceed with the assessment and therefore will normally refuse your provider’s application.
95. As we assess an application, we will also undertake a risk assessment of the extent of the risk that your provider will breach one or more of the general ongoing conditions of registration if registered.
96. Where our assessment suggests that your provider may not be able to satisfy the initial conditions of registration, or where we consider there to be an increased risk of a future breach of a general ongoing condition of registration, we may seek additional information from you. This may result in us imposing a specific ongoing condition of registration (see paragraph 121 to 123 for more information).

Notes

[41] See section 4(3) Higher Education and Research Act 2017

[42] See Annex A: Application requirements notice at Supporting documents.

[43] OfS, ‘Regulatory notice 1: Access and participation plan guidance’.

[44] OfS, ‘Description of student outcome and experience measures used in OfS regulation’

[45] OfS, ‘Regulatory advice 20: Regulating student outcomes’.

[46] OfS, ‘Regulatory advice 23: Arrangements for initial condition B7 quality assessment visits’.

[47] See Condition B8: Standards.

[48] See The Higher Education (Assessment Fees) (England) Regulations 2023

97. We require you to inform us whether your provider has been subject to an investigation in the 60 months preceding the date of your registration application. This information should be submitted in the template at Annex P: ‘Investigations declaration form’ in the list of supporting documents.
98. We require you to inform us about whether there are any open investigations into any ‘relevant individuals’.⁴⁹ This would include, for example, investigations into tax or other financial probity matters. This should be indicated in the template at Annex P: ‘Investigations declaration form’ in the list of supporting documents. If you have answered yes to any of the questions in this form, we will be in contact to request further details.
99. We encourage you to engage with us if your provider or any relevant individuals are subject to an ongoing investigation while preparing an application for registration. By discussing the scope and nature of the investigation with us at an early stage, we can give you an indicative view of whether we are likely to require the investigation’s outcomes before making a registration decision. This information can help your provider decide its next steps, including whether to defer its application until the investigation concludes and the outcomes are available.
100. If your provider is subject to an ongoing investigation (or has a relevant individual subject to an ongoing investigation) and did not engage with us before submitting an application, our provisional view is that we would be likely to require your provider to submit the outcomes of that investigation before we could make a decision about your provider’s registration application. This would be likely to mean delaying the assessment of your provider’s application until the investigation had concluded.
101. This is intended to encourage early and proactive engagement about ongoing investigations to avoid delays and unnecessary work during the registration process. Without early engagement, you may invest significant effort in preparing and submitting an application and we could do the same in assessing an application that is then paused for a long period. If the information becomes outdated, you may need to resubmit significant parts of your application.
102. If a new investigation begins after you submit your provider’s application and while we are assessing it, we are likely to require you to submit the outcomes of that investigation before we can make a decision on your provider’s registration application. This is because the investigation’s recency increases the likelihood that it relates to your provider’s current practices, which we are actively assessing.
103. We recognise that investigations can take time to conclude. If an investigation is ongoing when your provider applies or is ready to apply, this may delay our decision about your provider’s application. This is because if the investigation is relevant to our assessment and conducted by a regulatory, statutory, enforcement, or public body, we will generally not be able to make a reasonable, accurate, and proportionate decision on your provider’s application until the outcomes are known.
104. We require information about the outcomes of any investigation relevant to your provider’s application to be available prior to our decision, to ensure our decisions are fully informed and evidence based. This helps us assess the regulatory risk your provider may pose. Requiring information about the outcome of an investigation before making a registration decision means we can act in the public interest, ensuring that only providers that meet the required standards are granted registration.
105. In cases where we make a provisional decision to refuse a provider’s application and a new investigation is opened after the decision has been made, we will normally proceed with that decision and will not require information about the outcomes of that investigation.
106. In all cases, our decision will depend on the scope and nature of the investigation and its relevance to our registration assessment.

Factors we consider in requesting additional information about investigations

107. We will consider several factors when deciding whether to request more information about an investigation, including any that are ongoing.
108. These factors include but are not limited to:
     1. The scope and relevance of the investigation – we will assess whether the investigation or the issues it addresses are directly or indirectly linked to any regulatory requirements.
     2. The outcomes of the investigation – we will consider whether the investigation resulted in formal findings, sanctions, or other actions against your provider or relevant individuals, and whether those outcomes raise concerns about your provider’s eligibility for registration or ability to meet registration conditions. For example, sanctions or actions could indicate risks or weaknesses in governance.
     3. The timing and relevance of the investigation – we will take into account how recently the investigation occurred or concluded, and how relevant its outcomes are to your provider’s recent or ongoing practices.

Types of investigations likely requiring detailed information

109. We are more likely to request detailed information about certain types of investigations than others. These include, but are not limited to:
110. Quality – we may request information about investigations by professional, statutory, and regulatory bodies or awarding bodies. Ofsted inspections may also be relevant to our assessment of conditions B3 (student outcomes), B7 (quality), and B8 (standards), depending on the specific findings. For example, if Ofsted findings relate to your provider’s provision at Level 3 or below, we will consider whether those findings are also relevant to your provider’s higher education provision (Level 4 or above), including overall management and governance.
111. Governance – we may request information about investigations by funding or public bodies, such as the Department for Education or the SLC, particularly where they concern the appropriate use of funds. We will also consider investigations by the Charity Commission that relate to your provider’s governance. These are especially relevant to our assessment of condition D (financial viability and sustainability) and the E conditions (management and governance).
112. Finance – We may request information about investigations by organisations, including but not limited to:
     • The Financial Conduct Authority, if they raise concerns about financial management or compliance practices.
     • The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), if your provider is linked to entities involved in banking or financial risk management. PRA findings could affect financial sustainability.
     • The Pensions Regulator (TPR), if your provider operates a pension scheme and fails to meet TPR standards, which may indicate financial mismanagement.
     • HM Revenue and Customs, if investigations or penalties related to tax matters suggest broader financial or operational governance concerns.
     • The Insolvency Service, particularly if investigations relate to the conduct of your provider’s directors or potential corporate abuse.
113. If we require more information we will write to you explaining our reasons and will issue a bespoke requirements notice to your provider setting out what you need to submit. If we do not require any further information, we will confirm this and proceed with our assessment of your provider’s application.

Notes

[49] See OfS, ‘Securing student success: Regulatory framework for higher education in England’.

114. During our assessment and before we reach a decision, we may share information with you that indicates your provider’s application is unlikely to satisfy our requirements, and that our assessment is likely to result in a provisional decision to refuse registration. In these circumstances we may tell you if there are actions you can take to address the issues identified, including any additional information you need to submit to meet our requirements. However, based on this information your provider may wish to withdraw its application.
115. Your provider may also wish to withdraw its application for other reasons. We recognise that there are circumstances in which applications may need to materially change, or where a provider may reconsider whether and when it plans to be registered, not owing to any previous failure to engage with the registration requirements. We encourage providers to recognise such circumstances and take proactive steps to manage applications, including withdrawing from the process where appropriate.
116. We will consider any request to withdraw from the application process on a case-by-case basis. However, we will consider the circumstances of your application and any previous applications when considering a request to withdraw an application. This will include any past pattern of submitting and then withdrawing registration applications.
117. If a provider chooses to withdraw its application following a quality and standards assessment containing negative judgements, or following a provisional decision to refuse its registration application, and we accept its request to withdraw, we will normally publish some information about the case. The information that we normally expect to publish and the reasons for publication can be found in our guidance on our approach to publishing information.⁵⁰

Notes

[50] OfS, ‘Regulatory advice 21: Publication of information’.

118. If a provider has previously withdrawn from the application process, it may reapply at any time by submitting a new registration application. However, it should not reapply using the same or a very similar application without having addressed the weaknesses in the original application or without ensuring the new application meets the requirements of the application requirements notice.
119. We will consider each application on a case-by-case basis. However, we are likely to prioritise first-time applications ahead of providers that have previously applied and have withdrawn. If a provider withdraws and reapplies, its assessment is likely to take longer than the indicative timeframes we have set out in this guidance.