Registrar’s Office Leading on Student Compliance (Non-Tier 4)

The Registrar’s Office in Student and Registry Services is leading on UCL-wide projects relating to compliance with regulatory requirements set out by external bodies such as the new Office for Students. The Office for Students (OfS) is an independent public body that is not part of central government, but reports to Parliament through the Department for Education (DfE). The Office for Students came into existence in January 2018 and was established by the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. All higher education providers in England must register with the OfS in order to receive public grant funding for teaching and research, to be able to charge tuition fees above the basic fee amount and to be able to sponsor Tier 4 visas for international students.

To maintain their registration with the OfS, higher education providers must comply with the conditions of registration set out in the OfS Regulatory Framework that will come fully into force on 1 August 2019 (there are interim conditions in place until then). It replaces the previous regulatory framework for higher education in England which operated under part 2 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and part 3 of the Higher Education Act 2004.

A team comprising a Senior Assistant Registrar, Assistant Registrar, Projects and Improvements Manager, Data Protection Manager and Senior Compliance Officer are looking at the requirements set out in the OfS Regulatory Framework and CMA guidance on consumer law to ensure UCL is and will continue to be compliant.

The team will be in contact with Faculties during the coming months to provide information on the OfS and CMA requirements and how compliance will be managed across UCL.

In the meantime if there are any questions or comments on OfS and CMA compliance at UCL, they can be sent to srs-compliance@ucl.ac.uk.