Five universities hit with OfS improvement notices

The English sector regulator has imposed improvement notices at five universities that it says have failed to meet its standards on student outcomes.

Courses at Arden University, the University of Cumbria, Leeds Beckett University, London Metropolitan University, and Richmond, the American International University in London have all been highlighted by the Office for Students (OfS) as part of 11 case reports published on its website. 

The reports look at a university or college’s compliance with the controversial B3 condition of the OfS’s regulatory framework, which sets baselines for students continuing on their course, completing their course, and achieving successful outcomes after graduation.

Improvement notices are tailored to the individual circumstances of each university, the regulator said, and “each requires the provider to take steps to improve or sustain its performance for some courses”.

The publication comes in a week where the new government is expected to announce changes to the regulator and appoint a new interim chair after the departure of Conservative peer Lord Wharton.

Arden was found to have already taken some steps to improve the quality of its provision, but the regulator said it did not agree with the provider’s arguments about the influence of contextual factors relating to the socio-economic background of its student population.

It therefore concluded that Arden was at increased risk of a future breach of condition B3, and the improvement notice requires it to improve outcomes before a further assessment by the OfS in 2028.

Carl Lygo, the vice chancellor of Arden, said he was disappointed by the overall outcome of the report, but that the university would “take a number of positives” from it.

Arden is already seeing the positive impact of a comprehensive review and a financial investment to further improve student outcomes, he said.

“We remain committed to improving outcomes for all our students - over 80 per cent of which come from some of the most underrepresented groups in higher education.”

At Cumbria, the proportion of part-time postgraduate taught masters’ students was found to be below the OfS continuation threshold of 65 per cent for a prolonged period of time, and was at risk of breach in the future. It was ordered to take targeted action by spring 2027.

The OfS had recognised Cumbria’s progress in identifying areas for improvement and taking necessary actions to improve performance, said a university spokesperson. 

“We are confident that our continued work will further improve outcomes for all students and secure the demonstrable improvement that the OfS seeks relating to the area of part-time postgraduate provision,” they added. 

Leeds Beckett was found to have just 69 per cent of its full-time, first degree, computing students completing their course – which was below the required threshold of 75 per cent – meaning it is obligated to “mitigate the increased risk”.

A spokesperson for Leeds Beckett said: “The university has implemented an action plan in respect of the subject area concerned and monitoring shows that we continue to make good progress.

“The university takes all aspects of quality assurance seriously and we will continue to focus on enhancing outcomes for all our students.”

The OfS was assessing six indicators at London Met, and determined that three of them – the continuation rates for full-time and part-time postgraduate taught master’s, and the continuation outcomes for its full-time, first-degree students – were at risk of a breach.

London Met said that despite cost-of-living challenges, it is confident that continued investments in teaching and learning and in student services will positively impact future metrics.

“We look forward to sharing our progress with the OfS and exploring whether alternative benchmarks might better capture the diversity of our student body,” a spokesperson added.

And Richmond was found to be at risk of breaching its conditions of continuation and completion outcomes for full-time, first degree students, which were below the OfS threshold of 80 per cent and 75 per cent, respectively.

A spokesperson said it is challenging for the OfS and Richmond to align benchmarks between the UK system and the US-style approach it offers.

“We have adjusted our systems to accommodate the OfS requirements, but as OfS acknowledge it will take time for these changes and other reforms to become apparent in the data,” they added.

The OfS said it had taken the context of performance into account at three providers – London Film School, Norland College and the University of Worcester – and was satisfied that there were factors at all three that justified issues with student outcomes that had been identified.

Jean Arnold, deputy director of quality at the OfS, said all students deserve to study on high quality courses that lead to successful careers, and the reports offer an “important opportunity” for providers to consider their performance.

“We know that universities and colleges undertake significant work to continuously improve the outcomes students receive from their education,” she added.

“Where they have some courses with performance below the thresholds we have set, they should continue to take steps to improve and ensure that all students reap the rewards that higher education can offer.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com