Alternative Higher Education providers inquiry
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“The Public Accounts Committee examined funding for students of alternative Higher Education providers in 2015 and found that some public money had been provided to ineligible students, whilst the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (who were responsible for Higher Education at the time) could not quantify how much money had been lost in funding students who did not complete courses. In June 2017 responsibility for Higher Education moved to the Department for Education. A recent National Audit Office report reviewed the Government’s progress in overseeing alternative Higher Education providers. The report found that progress had been made towards reducing drop-out rates, but is still 15% higher than for the rest of the higher education centre. The report also found that, whilst payments to ineligible students have reduced, the Department for Education does not have specific enough data to measure properly the level of, or trends in, ineligible payments. Oversight of alternative providers has improved, but progression rates for graduates from these institutions remain lower than those from publicly-funded providers. Under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, a new Office for Students will soon come into being to take on responsibility for funding and regulating Higher Education, including alternative providers. The Committee will ask representatives from the Department for Education, the Student Loans Company and the Office for Students (currently in the process of being established) about what further progress they can expect to make, how regulation can be better carried out in the future, and whether they have the data they need to monitor whether alternative Higher Education providers deliver to their students.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
Serious allegations of fraudulent practices at alternative providers show that the Department for Education (the Department) has not done enough to close down opportunities to play the system, allowing the sector to become a ‘chancer’s charter’.
Since the Committee previously reported in 2015, the Department has made some progress in strengthening its oversight of alternative providers. Fewer students are dropping out of their courses, and the Department has strengthened controls and committed more resources to tackling fraud. However, one in four students at alternative providers are still not completing their courses, compared to one in ten in the rest of the higher education sector, and a further £10 million has been paid out to students or providers who are not eligible for student loan funding. We expect the new Office for Students to learn the lessons from the Department’s experience to date when it takes over responsibility for the alternative provider sector.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 10 January 2018 to 7 March 2018.
- Oral evidence 15 Jan 2018
- Report 7 Mar 2018
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 23rd Report - Alternative Higher Education Providers ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 15 Jan 2018No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗