The Office for Students (OfS) has published the results of its stakeholder survey, providing insights into how it is viewed by senior leaders of universities, colleges and specialist institutions.
The OfS commissioned Savanta, an independent research agency specialising in public sector research, to run the survey during January and February this year. Open to accountable officers at all registered institutions, it builds on previous research commissioned by the OfS research based on selected interviews.
Over 170 senior leaders shared their views, providing the OfS with insights into how it is perceived by universities, colleges, and other higher education institutions, and highlighting changes it could make to continue to strengthen its relationship with the sector.
Nearly all (96 per cent) accountable officers who responded agreed that it is important to have a higher education regulator. Other key findings include:
- Four in ten respondents (42 per cent) said their overall relationship with the OfS has improved in the last 12 months.
- Half (50 per cent) of accountable officers at universities reported having a negative perception of the OfS, compared to 17 per cent of those at further education colleges and 29 per cent of those at specialist institutions.
- Accountable officers reported mixed views on the OfS’s regulatory guidance. Half (50 per cent) said OfS guidance was not easy to understand, but 63 per cent said it was sufficient for them to know what they need to do to meet the OfS’s requirements.
- Less than half (46 per cent) of accountable officers said they do not think the OfS works collaboratively with the sector.
The OfS is planning to run the survey over multiple years to measure how perceptions are changing over time and continually improve how it engages and communicates with the institutions it regulates.
Interim Chief Executive of the OfS, Josh Fleming, said:
‘Today’s findings give us useful insights into how we can improve our approach to regulation.
‘I'm encouraged to see more evidence that our regulation is driving improvements in the quality of higher education. And I’m pleased that many institutional leaders have seen improvement in their relationship with the OfS.
‘Most importantly, the findings will help guide our efforts to improve. We need to make our regulations easier to understand. We need to improve the tone of our communication and continue to build trust and confidence in the OfS with the institutions we regulate. And we need to work collaboratively with the sector to achieve shared aims. This doesn’t mean watering down our regulation when action needs to be taken – the vast majority of respondents agreed on the importance of having a sector regulator – but it does mean we need to do more to realise the vision set out in our new strategy.
‘I’m grateful to all the senior leaders that took the time to share their feedback with us, and I look forward to working with you as we continue to build on the lessons from this report.’
Notes
- Also see our 2024 report on sector perceptions of OfS engagement and communications and our 2023 report on provider engagement.
- Accountable officers are the people responsible for reporting to the OfS on behalf on an institution, and would normally be the head, vice-chancellor, principal, chief executive or equivalent.