Global HE chains’ English plans ‘thwarted by OfS register pause’

Former universities minister claims successful providers based overseas keen to invest in sector but have so far been left frustrated

January 30, 2025
Commemorative London and English flag woollen beanies
Source: iStock/David Taljat

Global higher education providers keen to set up a presence in England have been left frustrated by the Office for Students’ decision to pause new registrations, a former universities minister has claimed.

Speaking in a House of Lords debate about the controversial move by the sector regulator to put key parts of its work on hold, David Willetts said it risked hindering the Westminster government’s growth mission.

He said among the providers that had been hoping to set up in the UK were “very substantial global chains” that had the potential to drive growth in the sector.

One of those name-checked by the Conservative peer, who served as minister for universities and science between 2010 and 2014, was the Engineering Institute of Technology, an Australia-based provider of engineering courses.

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The institution, which already runs a technology college in London, was applying for degree-awarding powers, Willetts said, but its application had been put on hold.

Announcing the pause late last year the OfS said it would still consider applications far along the process but halt those who were in early negotiations.

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These providers have claimed that they will effectively go back to the beginning when the register reopens in August, given all of the previously submitted information will be out of date.

Willetts urged the regulator to reconsider and progress all applications submitted before the pause was announced.

Another provider he spoke of in the debate was the France-based OMNES, which he said was seeking to register and obtain degree-awarding powers but this was now “apparently paused”.

The IU Group, Germany’s largest private university group, which boasts 150,000 students, was another trying to set up in the country, Willetts said.

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“We should be open to this type of high-quality provision. When we’ve got these big global chains coming in, surely we should welcome them,” he said.

Willetts said that the chains referenced had new business models, access to external finance and more professional management but had so far “not taken off in Britain”. “From a global perspective ours look like a cottage industry,” he added.

Referencing the chancellor Rachel Reeves’ recent speech about driving growth in the UK economy, he said the Department for Education and the OfS would struggle to “explain they are refusing to consider applications for international investment in a significant British growth sector”.

Responding to the debate for the government, Ruth Smeeth, the former Stoke-on-Trent MP who now sits in the House of Lords, conceded that it had “not been an ideal decision for the OfS to make” and she did not underestimate the impact on providers’ business models that relied on achieving registration or degree-awarding powers within a certain time frame.

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“I recognise the concerns that this stifles growth, but this is about keeping the show on the road while we deliver on our long-term strategic ambitions for higher education,” she added.

She said the government and OfS were happy to engage with and reassure institutions as the pause was ongoing and applications will be considered as soon as the process restarts. 

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tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com

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