Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Twenty-Eighth Report - Student loans issued to those studying at franchised higher education providers
Public Accounts Committee
HC 455
Published 24 April 2024
Recommendations
11
Acknowledged
Lack of transparency regarding tuition fee retention by lead providers in franchise arrangements.
Recommendation
The C&AG’s report indicated that some lead providers retained between 12.5% and 30% of tuition fees received for courses at their franchised providers.25 DfE confirmed that the information is not in the public domain and that students are not always …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the need for greater transparency over franchising arrangements, notes a sector-led response by Universities UK, and will ask the Office for Students to consider requiring providers to publish details on the proportion of tuition fees they retain and for what purposes.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (2)
20
Conclusion
Acknowledged
The value of detected fraud in 2022/23 involving franchised providers totalled £2.2 million, 53% of the total £4.1 million fraud SLC identified.49 In our July 2023report on tackling fraud and corruption across government, we concluded that tackling fraud cannot be left to counter-fraud technical experts.50 We asked DfE whether it …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of addressing fraud and misuse of student funding and highlights existing collaborations and protocols between DfE, SLC, and OfS, including data sharing and incident response plans, while considering further improvements.
21
Conclusion
Acknowledged
We asked why the value of detected fraud at franchised providers has increased almost sevenfold, from £329,831 in 2018/19 to £2,163,459 in 2022/23, when the number of 43 Universities UK (ISL0002) 44 Universities UK (ISL0002) 45 Qq 39–41, 74; C&AG’s Report, para 2.19 46 Q 74 47 Qq39, 41, 76 …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the increase in detected fraud at franchised providers and highlights existing collaborations and protocols between DfE, SLC, and OfS, including data sharing and incident response plans, while considering further improvements.