University Alliance have responded to the Office for Students’ consultation on the future approach to quality regulation.
UA welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Office for Students (OfS) consultation on the
future approach to quality regulation. As teaching-intensive institutions, Alliance universities
are proud of their long history of teaching excellence. They are committed to delivering high
quality, inclusive, and professionally oriented education and training that supports
opportunity for all and regional development.
UA agrees with the OfS’s ambition to create a more integrated quality system that reduces
burden and drives continuous improvement across the sector. However, taken as a whole –
and combined with those in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper – the proposals
create a very high stakes quality assessment system that is unlikely to achieve this.
In the OfS’s own estimation, “most provision in the higher education sector in England is
already excellent” and “most students have positive experiences of HE.” The OfS’s new
strategy commits to championing the sector and its strengths while setting ambitious
expectations for access, yet the proposals in this consultation appear to contradict and
undermine those aims.
We call on the OfS to:
- Develop a single, equitable methodology for all providers that aligns with the
ESG. - Retain the definition of the Bronze rating as exceeding (rather than meeting)
minimum requirements. - Remove the most punitive sanctions linked to TEF ratings.
- Move away from an overall rating in lieu of aspect ratings (in line with Ofsted).
- Ensure contextual improvement narratives are considered in B3 assessments.
- Reconsider the TEF submission fee.
- Pilot the new system before full rollout.
- Delay PGT inclusion until robust data and indicators are developed.
We look forward to engaging further with the OfS during the second-stage consultation in
2026 and contributing to the development of a fair, proportionate, and improvement-focused
quality regulation system that serves to support and enhance rather than further destabilise
the higher education sector.
