The Office for Students (OfS) is consulting on changes to simplify how it regulates further education colleges while continuing to protect the interests of students and public funding.
Further education colleges that provide higher education courses and are registered with the OfS are subject to regulation by both the Department for Education (DfE) and the OfS. To reduce regulatory duplication, the OfS is proposing to disapply five of its initial conditions of registration and four general ongoing conditions of registration where the DfE already has robust oversight in place.
This includes condition A2, which relates to the publication of an access and participation statement. The OfS is proposing to disapply this requirement for all further education colleges (FECs), as the DfE already requires colleges to demonstrate how they will address barriers to participation, support disadvantaged learners, and improve outcomes for underrepresented groups.
The OfS is not proposing to disapply condition A1, which requires institutions charging tuition fees above the basic amount to maintain and adhere to an OfS-approved access and participation plan.
The other proposed changes would only apply to FECs that do not hold or are not seeking degree awarding powers (DAPs) and are already subject to regulation by the DfE. This includes colleges that are newly seeking registration with the OfS. For these institutions, the OfS is proposing to disapply conditions relating to:
- financial viability and sustainability (condition D)
- management and governance (conditions E1, E2, E7, E8, and E9)
The proposals follow wider reforms to the OfS’s registration process, to enable it to register institutions that are well-prepared to enter the regulated higher education sector more efficiently. The reforms were announced in August 2025 and include new initial conditions of registration relating to treating students fairly and effective governance.
OfS Director of Regulation, Philippa Pickford, said:
‘Further education colleges play an important role in providing flexible and diverse higher education pathways for students. Registering with us enables colleges to access public funding and give students confidence that their institution meets our requirements for quality, student protection, and support.
‘However, colleges have told us that the complex regulatory landscape that they must navigate can be a barrier to offering higher education courses. We also anticipate that the sector will expand when the government launches the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE). In disapplying requirements where DfE already has robust oversight, we hope to make the registration process as smooth as possible for these institutions and ensure our regulation remains proportionate and risk-based.
‘We’ve been considering how we regulate different types of institution and most of the changes we are proposing today will only apply to colleges that do not have and are not seeking degree awarding powers (DAPs). That’s because institutions with DAPs are responsible for awarding qualifications that are of significant value to students, employers and the wider higher education sector, and we think it’s important to retain a fuller set of conditions of registration for these providers.
‘We encourage anyone with an interest in the regulation of further education colleges to tell us what they think of our proposals. We are particularly interested in hearing from students, staff, academics and leaders at further education colleges currently offering higher education courses or are planning to do so in the future.’
- The Office for Students is the independent regulator for higher education in England. We are striving to deliver exemplary regulation in the interests of students. Find out more about our new strategy.
- Read more about our reforms to OfS registration requirements.