The Office for Students (OfS) opened a consultation in December 2025 to seek views on proposals to disapply some of the OfS conditions of registration that apply to providers of higher education that are also providers in the statutory further education sector.
When a further education college offers higher education courses and is registered with the OfS, it is subject to regulation by both the Department for Education (DfE) and the OfS. The proposals seek to reduce duplication of regulation for eligible further education colleges already on the OfS Register and make registration assessments more efficient by removing registration requirements where it is proportionate to do so.
The conditions of registration OfS propose to disapply include:
- initial and ongoing condition A2 (access and participation statement)
- initial and ongoing condition D (financial viability and sustainability)
- initial conditions E7 (a set of governing documents and business plans), E8 (fraud and inappropriate use of public funds) and E9 (Individuals)
- ongoing conditions E1 (public interest governance) and E2 (management and governance)
The consultation ran from 2 December 2025 to 10 February 2026.
Our response
IHE supports OfS proposals to remove duplicative regulatory conditions for further education colleges, recognising this as a positive step towards proportionate oversight and reduced burden.
However, limiting these changes to further education colleges risks entrenching inequities for other providers, particularly those delivering Levels 4 and 5, apprenticeships or operating under Skills England, who face similar regulatory duplication but are excluded from the reforms.
We urge the OfS to extend its approach to ensure consistency across the tertiary landscape, review data requirements that impose unnecessary burden on non research‑active providers, and avoid unintended consequences of dual regulation across comparable institutions.
Read our full response using the download link below.