A college group has been told it has to deliver a “material improvemement” on student outcomes to remain on the Office for Students’ register.

United Colleges Group had satisfied the initial condition for registration, the OfS said in its judgement. It added, however, that assessment of student outcome data suggested that the group was “at increased risk” of breaching condition B3 - a condition which states that a higher education provider “must deliver successful outcomes for all of its students, which are recognised and valued by employers and/or enable further study” .

Higher education providers that want their students to be able to access government-backed student loans must register with the Office for Students. Currently, there are 274 institutions registered - although some providers have transition arrangements in place.

College group must provide improvement plan

While there are initial and general ongoing conditions that providers must satisfy to register, and then must continue to meet in order to stay registered, the OfS can also impose “specific ongoing conditions”, based on a risk assessment. If a breach of a specific or general ongoing condition is identified, the OfS “will consider the use of formal sanctions - monetary penalties, suspension or deregistration”.

The OfS said it was “imposing a specific condition of registration requiring an improvement plan” on United Colleges Group, which was formed in August 2017 through the merger of City of Westminster College and the College of North West London. The OfS explained that the college group had to submit an improvement plan for approval by the OfS by 29 March 2019, setting out the actions it intended to take to deliver a material improvement in student outcomes.

‘Aware of the challenges’

Keith Cowell, chief executive of the United Colleges Group, said: “We are proud to be one of the two London college groups to have successfully registered with the OfS. As one of the few London Institutions to register, we are aware of the challenges delivering HE in FE encounters. We fully support every learner, however due to the diverse nature of our HE student body, some struggle to commit fully to a two-year programme. As a result, our outcomes for continuation and completion rates are affected by these in year changes.

We are currently consulting with learners and staff on our improvement plan, which will be submitted for approval by 29 March 2019.”