Office for Students
Consultation

Proposals for a revised approach to assessing and rating quality

Published 22 October 2026

Read these proposals as a PDF

Executive summary

Section 1: The quality assessment system

Proposal 1: The overall quality system

Proposal 2: Selecting annual cohorts for assessment

Proposal 3: Risk assessment and determining the level of scrutiny

Proposal 4: Sufficient data for TEF ratings

Proposal 5: Provider participation and timeline

Proposal 6: Provision in scope for assessments

Section 2: Student experience

Proposal 7: Student experience criteria

Proposal 8: Student experience indicators

Proposal 9: Provider submissions for student experience

Proposal 10: TEF student submissions

Proposal 11: Enhanced student experience assessments

Section 3: Student outcomes

Proposal 12: Minimum requirements for student outcomes

Proposal 13: Student outcomes criteria

Proposal 14: Student outcomes indicators

Proposal 15: Provider submissions for student outcomes

Section 4: Assessments

Proposal 16: Assessment teams and decision making

Proposal 17: Assessment approach

Section 5: Outcomes, incentives and consequences

Proposal 18: Published outcomes and enhancement

Proposal 19: Student recruitment limits

Proposal 20: Eligibility for degree awarding powers (DAPs)

Proposal 21: Quality investigations and changes to assessment outcomes

Annexes and supporting documents

See all annexes and supporting documents
Published 22 October 2026
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