Subcontracting or validating higher education

This page summarises regulatory requirements for lead providers that subcontract courses to delivery partners or franchise providers.

If a provider has 100 or more students studying on relevant subcontracted courses, it must meet our requirements.

1. Know when the requirements apply

The condition applies from one year before the students start on the course, or from the point that the provider should reasonably have known it would reach 100 or more students – whichever is later.

If a provider’s student numbers fall below 100, it must comply with the condition for the rest of the academic year.

Some subcontractual arrangements are exempt. This includes where:

• the delivery partner is a school, a further education corporation, a sixth form college, a designated institution, a provider of National Health Service services, a local authority, a police and crime commissioner, a mayoral combined authority, the armed forces, or a government department
• the delivery partner holds degree awarding powers
• the contract relates to the provision delivered wholly in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; or delivered online, where all of the students are ordinarily resident outside England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• the contract relates to the provision of a UK primary medical qualification, veterinary degree programme or the provision of an initial teacher training course.

2. Meet the overarching obligation

Providers must identify and manage risks to students and taxpayers in all subcontractual arrangements.

Risks include (but are not limited to):

• misselling of courses
• poor quality teaching or assessment
• weak admissions standards (e.g. admitting students who cannot engage with the course)
• academic misconduct issues
• poor student support or safeguarding
• fraudulent or inaccurate data submissions, especially those affecting public funding
• disruption to students if a delivery partner fails.

3. Create and maintain a ‘subcontracting information source’

The subcontracting information source must:

• contain all policies, procedures and arrangements necessary to manage subcontracted provision
• clearly document how risks are identified and controlled
• be maintained and updated regularly
• keep all historical versions for at least five years
• be shareable with the OfS on request.

Providers may reference existing policies (e.g., procurement, safeguarding) but must explain how these apply to subcontracting.

4. Provide the minimum content

The subcontracting information source must include:

1. Strategic rationale
   This should explain why the provider subcontracts, how it prioritises students’ interests over financial considerations, and how subcontracting fits into the provider’s wider strategy.
2. New arrangements
   The provider should explain how it identifies and assesses potential new subcontracting partners, due diligence processes, how it ensures partners have capacity and resources, and how the courses its partners deliver meet the OfS’s conditions for quality and standards (conditions B1 to B5).
3. Governing body oversight
   The information source should explain how the governing body (or its committees) oversees subcontracted provision, and how internal controls, risk management, and internal or external audit support oversight.
4. Policies and procedures
   This should cover how risks to students and taxpayers are managed in practice, how the provider verifies information from the delivery partner (e.g. onsite testing, sampling, interviews), how complaints, performance issues, student protection, and escalation processes operate, how to manage partner underperformance or failure.
5. Adaptability
   Providers should be clear about how they will review and update the subcontracting information source and associated processes when circumstances change (e.g., new partners, increased numbers).

5. Operate according to the information source

Providers must:

• ensure all current and future contracts allow them to operate in line with the information source
• ensure new contracts reflect the information source requirements
• take all reasonable steps to amend existing contracts if necessary.
• report a reportable event if they cannot operate according to the information source, even after taking reasonable steps.

6. Capacity and resources

A provider must also manage the scale and complexity of its subcontracted provision. This means it must have adequate:

• staffing (knowledgeable, skilled people)
• systems
• processes
• governance capacity.

7. OfS assessment

When assessing compliance, the OfS may consider:

• complaints, whistleblowing, reportable events
• quality assessments, data audits, investigations
• data submitted by the provider (e.g., outcomes data)
• evidence of risks crystallising (e.g., misselling, student support failures, data manipulation)
• whether issues are isolated or symptomatic of systemic failures.

The OfS can find a breach based solely on the overarching obligation, even if detailed requirements appear met.