How to register with the Office for Students

120. If we approve an application for registration, we will write to the provider to confirm:
     • the date of registration and the date on which we will publish the provider’s details on the Register
     • that the provider is eligible for registration and satisfies the initial conditions of registration
     • the general ongoing conditions of registration that will apply
     • whether we will impose any specific ongoing conditions of registration at the point of registration (see paragraphs 121 to 123)
     • whether we will put in place any enhanced monitoring requirements at the point of registration, or require the provider to provide other information on an ongoing basis, for example by specifying that a particular type of reportable event is always reportable for the provider⁵¹
     • if applicable, whether the provider’s access and participation plan has been approved and the way in which the provider makes any representations about that decision⁵²
     • an introductory meeting for staff at the provider to meet with senior OfS staff. This is a chance for the provider to find out more about how we regulate registered providers, to ask any questions and find out about upcoming events.

Notes

[51] See Reportable events.

121. Specific ongoing conditions of registration may be imposed where we have identified a risk to compliance with the general ongoing conditions of registration.⁵³ Specific ongoing conditions will apply to your provider in addition to the general ongoing conditions of registration. Specific conditions cannot be imposed for the purpose of ensuring there is compliance with an initial condition of registration because all the requirements of initial conditions must be satisfied for a provider to be registered.
122. If we intend to impose any specific conditions of registration we will notify your provider’s governing body of our provisional decision, setting out:
     • the wording of the proposed specific condition(s)
     • the reasons for the provisional decision to impose the specific condition(s)
     • how your provider can make representations about our provisional decision
     • the timeframe for your provider to make such representations (not less than 28 days).
123. We will consider any representations your provider wishes to make before making our final decision on whether to impose a specific condition of registration.

Notes

[53] See Glossary.

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

124. If we intend to refuse your provider’s application for registration, we will notify your provider’s governing body of our provisional decision to refuse registration, setting out:
     • the reasons for our refusal
     • how your provider can make representations about our provisional decision
     • the timeframe for your provider to make such representations (not less than 28 days).
125. We will normally require a provider to submit any written representations via the OfS portal. This is an opportunity for you to submit, for example, any missing information and to explain any previous omissions, inaccuracies, or insufficient evidence in your provider’s original application. We will then assess your provider’s representations to determine whether the reasons for our provisional refusal are still valid before making our final decision.
126. When we make a provisional decision to refuse registration on the basis that your provider has not complied with the application requirements notice, we will identify the requirements that your provider has not met.
127. When we make a provisional decision to refuse registration because your provider has not satisfied one or more of the initial conditions of registration, we will identify the initial conditions of registration that are not satisfied. In these circumstances we may not have completed our assessment of some other initial conditions. For example, we may not have assessed initial conditions B7 and B8 because we have not yet decided to begin a quality and standards assessment – for which we charge a fee. If your provider applies for registration in the Approved (fee cap) category and it does not meet the additional requirements for that category but does satisfy the initial conditions of registration for the Approved category, we may discuss with you the possibility of registering your provider in the Approved category instead.

128. If your provider’s representations cause us to reach a different view, we will write to your provider as follows:
     • where we decide that your provider should be registered, we will write to your provider’s governing body with confirmation of this and any relevant information related to our decision
     • where we decide to proceed to assess conditions of registration that have not previously been assessed, we will write setting out:
       • the outcome of our assessment of your provider’s representations relating to the conditions we had assessed
       • the next steps for the assessment of any remaining conditions
       • any further information we require from your provider to allow us to complete our assessment.
129. If we receive new information as part of your provider’s representations and our assessment of that information leads to different grounds for refusal, we may take a further provisional decision to refuse your provider’s registration.
130. If we make a final decision to refuse your provider’s application for registration, we will write to you to set out the grounds for our refusal.

131. If your provider applies for registration on or after 1 January 2026 and receives a final refusal decision, it will not be able to submit a new application until 12 months after the date of the final decision to refuse registration. This does not apply to change of registration category applications.
132. We would consider exceptions to this requirement that relate to issues of procedure. Some non-exhaustive examples are as follows:
     1. An issue which led to the refusal was due to our technical or IT issues which had not been identified during the 28-day representations period.
     2. We refused registration to a provider because it had not submitted information that was temporarily unavailable due to a situation beyond the provider’s control but which has become available again.
133. We would be less likely to consider an exception based on an argument that this restriction could result in detriment to a provider because it would delay its ability to apply to be registered.
134. If your provider is seeking registration and is operating substantially the same higher education business as a previous entity that received a final decision to refuse registration, we will take that previous decision into account and apply the same resubmission restriction to your provider’s new application. This approach ensures that a provider cannot avoid the resubmission restriction simply by changing its name or legal structure after being refused registration.
135. When determining whether a provider is operating substantially the same higher education business as another legal entity, we will place particular weight on similarities between the provider and the other legal entity, including but not limited to:
     • relevant individuals, where a significant proportion of those individuals (as defined in initial condition E9) are the same, even where those individuals are in different roles
     • premises, for example, campuses, offices, location of company registration
     • key identifiers, for example, UKPRN, company number, regulatory licences
     • marketing, for example, name, branding, or public statements of affiliation (e.g. using the name of the other legal entity to market the provider)
     • academic community, for example, staff and student populations
     • ownership and company structure
     • transfer of assets, business and/or liabilities – where assets, business and/or liabilities have been transferred from one legal entity to another.
136. The resubmission restriction period will not apply if you withdraw from the registration application process before we have made a decision about your application. However, we will take into account the circumstances of your application and any previous applications when considering any request to withdraw an application. This will include any past pattern of submitting and then withdrawing registration applications.

137. Our general policy on the publication of information about providers can be found in ‘Regulatory advice 21: Publication of information’.⁵⁵
138. We normally expect to publish any decision to refuse a registration application, and the reasons for that refusal, on our website.⁵⁶ This is because we consider that it is a fundamental principle that our regulation should be transparent. We consider a range of factors in deciding whether to publish information, including the public interest, the student interest and the provider interest in making that information public.
139. We will also consider publication of refusals for non-compliance with the application requirements notice and will take into account the publication factors in making these decisions.
140. The information we normally expect to publish for a provider that successfully registers includes any decision to register the provider, the report of any assessment of quality and standards undertaken during the assessment process, and any specific conditions imposed on the provider.⁵⁷

Notes

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

[56] See Refused registration decisions.

[57] See Assessment reports.