Regulatory advice 3: How to register with the Office for Students
This guidance applies to providers that make an application for registration with the Office for Students (OfS) on or after 16 September 2026.
- Ref:
- OfS 2025.52
- Date:
- 16 September 2026
Regulatory advice 3: How to register with the Office for Students (HTML)
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Regulatory advice 3: How to register with the Office for Students (PDF)
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Previous versions of this guidance and supporting documents
- Regulatory advice 3: Registration of English higher education providers with the OfS
- Notice under Section 3(5) of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017
- Annex C: Guidance on how to complete application forms 1 and 2
- Annex F: Registration application form 2
- Annex G: Your quality plan and supporting evidence for condition B7
- Annex H: Guidance for providers on the assessment of initial condition B8
- Annex K: C5 checklist
- Annex L: Guidance for providers about the financial information required for registration
- Annex N: Financial commentary template
- Regulatory advice 3: Registration of English higher education providers with the OfS
- Notice under Section 3(5) of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017
- Annex D: Template for producing a self-assessment on guidance on consumer protection law
- Annex E: Template for a student protection plan
- Annex F: Template for producing a self-assessment on management and governance arrangements
- Annex G: Template for producing a self-assessment on management and governance arrangements if your provider is a further education college or sixth form college
- Annex I: Guidance for providers on the assessment of initial condition B8 (standards)
- Annex J: Provider information template B8
- Guidance for providers about the financial information required for registration
- Template for financial and student numbers tables
- How to submit your application for registration with the Office for Students
- OfS registration checklist for providers
- Regulatory advice 3: Registration of new providers in 2019-20
- Annex C, Template for producing a self-assessment on guidance on consumer protection law
- Annex D, Template for a student protection plan
- Annex F, Template for producing a self-assessment on management and governance: new providers
- Annex G, Template for producing a self-assessment on management and governance: further education colleges and sixth form colleges
- Guidance and template for financial information required for registration with the Office for Students
- Template for financial and student numbers tables required for registration to the Office for Students, for providers regulated by DfE
- Information and instructions on how to submit your application for registration to the Office for Students
Last updated 16 September 2026 + show all updates
16 September 2026 - Updates to clarify our expectations and guidance for providers seeking to register with the OfS or change category of registration.
21 August 2025 - We have published a new version of the guidance.
01 August 2025 - Notice under Section 3(5) of HERA - date extended to 28 August 2025.
10 July 2025 - Minor formatting in Annex H and some hyperlinks in footnotes corrected.
02 December 2024 - We have added the notice under Section 3(5) of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.
15 December 2023 - Guidance updated for registration applications on or after 15 December 2023. Previous guidance is archived on this page.
28 July 2023 - We have published annexes I and J.
14 October 2022 - We have revised and published new guidance on how to register with the OfS.
10 September 2021 - Template for financial and student numbers tables required for registration to the Office for Students, for providers regulated by DfE updated
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