Recommendation 23

We have heard conflicting views about whether a higher education provider can continue to operate when insolvent. The Minister for Skills says that she thinks they can, arguing that institutions entering liquidation can carry on operating whilst being wound up. She stated that the threshold for government intervention in such a scenario would be very high. By contrast, the law firm Mills & Reeve LLP and sector stakeholders think an insolvent provider would, depending on their legal structure, potentially have to stop 113 trading and be liquidated immediately, which would have an immediate and devastating impact on students, who would not be able to complete their course. (Conclusion, Paragraph 133)