The Office for Students (OfS) has imposed a fine of £1,000 on Raindance Educational Services Limited (Raindance) after it failed to meet the deadline for submitting its signed audited financial statements for the financial year ending 2020.
The OfS today published a report that summarises the decision to impose a monetary penalty (fine) and the reasons for it, including how the appropriate level of penalty was calculated. This report also sets out how this failure by Raindance breached general ongoing condition F3, which compels a registered university or college to provide information to the OfS to assist its monitoring.
The OfS uses audited financial information to help assess a university or college’s financial viability and sustainability. Without this information, the OfS’s ability to effectively and efficiently monitor and anticipate financial risk is impeded, which can affect students and the wider sector.
While the provider took some steps to remedy the breach, they were taken after the deadline and it still took Raindance a further four months from this point to submit its audited financial statements resulting in the breach lasting just under 10 months. Having considered representations made by Raindance, the OfS reached a final decision to impose a monetary penalty for a breach of general ongoing condition F3 in respect of the period 9 June 2021 to 5 April 2022. The audited financial statements for the year ended 2020, and also for the latest year ended 2021, have now been submitted. The penalty was significantly reduced to £1,000 to reflect the OfS’s judgement that, in this case, a higher penalty might have a disproportionately negative impact on students, in light of the resources reasonably available to the provider.
Notes
- Read the full regulatory case report.
- Read the OfS’s regulatory framework.