AoC responds to new rules on higher education franchises

Arti Saraswat, Senior Policy Manager, Higher Education said: “Colleges play a crucial role in offering opportunities to those who would otherwise not study higher education (HE), and franchising has allowed them to deliver HE in hard-to-reach areas.

“We understand the need to protect the interests of students and taxpayers and agree that there needs to be a strengthened oversight of HE delivery under franchised models. It is right, however, to exempt FE colleges from the new rules; colleges are regulated by the Department for Education (DfE) and are already subject to rigorous requirements regarding governance and the use of public funds.”