Keeping Up With New OfS Conditions
- Charlotte Gorse
- Jul 9
- 2 min read
As the NSS is published and a flurry of quality results arrive too, PVCs, Registrars and Executive Deans alike look to strengthen their quality oversight responsibilities.
Reflect upon conditions rolling out from the Office for Students recently. It’s a complex matrix to deliver full evidence and quality regulatory measures that is more than the sum of its parts. A recent Higher Education Policy Institute article, by Paul Greatrix and Smita Jamdar helps to contextualise recent developments.
While there is no longer a single, annually-updated regulatory handbook, new conditions of OfS registration (such as the condition on harassment and sexual misconduct in effect from August 2025) should be looked at in detail.
Keeping pace with the collection of recent regulatory notices, regulatory advice, prohibited behaviours lists, letters from OfS directors, insight briefs, consultation documents, and various other reports is no easy task. Below are a few reminders to help:
● ‘Regulatory advice’ (directly relates to specific Conditions) should be read alongside guidance that forms part of the Regulatory Framework (such as Regulatory Advice 24 which states ‘it gives examples of steps that providers and constituent institutions must take to secure freedom of speech’);
● Other Amendments to the Regulatory Framework comprises a new list for ‘New Conditions of Registration’. These include:
For new providers:
● Condition C5 (Treating Students Fairly)
● Condition E7 (Governing Documents and Business Planning)
● Condition E8 (Fraud and Inappropriate Use of Public Funds)
● Condition E9 (Individuals)
For existing providers:
● Condition C6 (Treating Students Fairly) due soon
● Condition E6 (Harassment and Sexual Misconduct)
● Condition E10 (Subcontracting)
Institutions must remain cognisant of potential contradictions in the OfS’ Framework. For example, while it states that the termination of a partnership is always a reportable event, Regulatory Advice 16 says this is only reportable if it has an impact on students.
The recent arrival of two new OfS Chief Executives offers potential for regulatory streamlining. For Greatrix and Jamdar, it’s definitely time for a ‘review [of] the English regulatory regime in the round [to] come up with a rationalised model and a more effective and efficient approach.’
Can you pull everything into one coherent, quality framework for your teams before September? All eyes on the upcoming consultations.
