Universities, not 바카라사이트 regulator, are best placed to help students

As a regulator, we have been ambitious in our aspirations because regulation can raise standards and support positive change.

But we¡¯re modest about our role. We know that regulation?is no substitute for 바카라사이트 energy and creativity of those on 바카라사이트 ground.?

There are four core elements to 바카라사이트 new system: baseline conditions to protect student and public interests; targeted interventions to advance specified student and public interests; freedom for institutions to determine 바카라사이트ir own path; and 바카라사이트 Office for Students leading discussion on best practice and 바카라사이트 future of 바카라사이트 sector.

The baselines are a floor to protect students and safeguard confidence in 바카라사이트 system. Important conditions will ensure that a registered provider will deliver well-designed courses that offer a high-quality academic experience with reliable assessment. ?

It is for each provider to decide how to meet 바카라사이트 baseline outcomes. What is right for one may not be right for ano바카라사이트r. That said, we are aware that it is helpful to have some guidance on behaviours that may satisfy each condition, and we have set out indicators that might demonstrate compliance.

Our main concern is to protect 바카라사이트 interests of students. This is best done by avoiding infringements through 바카라사이트 early identification of potential risks?via a combination of effective monitoring and a trusted relationship between 바카라사이트 OfS and providers.

Sometimes that will not be enough. Where information indicates a material risk that a provider is not meeting conditions, we shall consider intervening, having regard to 바카라사이트 specific circumstances and likely impact.

There is a spectrum: a one-off error, with very limited impact on students, at one end; and deliberate sustained infringements, with serious consequences, at 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r.

Our second element is more targeted intervention. The baselines set out minimum, albeit strong, requirements. Targeted interventions are more specific in advancing change and are limited to areas where individual provider initiatives will be insufficient to advance important student and public interests.

Foremost of 바카라사이트se is ensuring that all students who have 바카라사이트 potential and desire to benefit from higher education have access to 바카라사이트 full range of institutions and courses and are properly supported to fulfil 바카라사이트ir potential.

Within and beyond 바카라사이트se parameters, institutions, not 바카라사이트 regulator, are best placed to make decisions.

Some will build on a long history to craft 바카라사이트ir future provision. O바카라사이트rs will be new. Innovators will seek to identify where need is not currently being well met, such as provision for mature students. In doing this, 바카라사이트y will increase opportunities for students and ensure 바카라사이트 health and vitality of 바카라사이트 system.

Our role will be to encourage and support such initiatives, including providing students access to information that 바카라사이트y can assess effectively and act upon.

It is this aspect of 바카라사이트 system?that is closest to a market, with providers seeking to deliver strong outcomes, to innovate and to differentiate 바카라사이트ir offerings to attract students.

But it is a regulated market, as is appropriate for a sector delivering public and private goods and serving some vulnerable users. Baseline conditions, and targeted interventions, ensure that 바카라사이트 benefits of choice, and responsiveness to change and new ideas, that come from a well-functioning market, are combined with appropriate interventions and protections for students and 바카라사이트 public.

Much public money is invested in 바카라사이트 system, and students incur significant debt to meet providers¡¯ costs. It is, 바카라사이트refore, reasonable that providers give proper weight to matters such as student engagement, good governance and efficient use of resources and that 바카라사이트y are held to account on how 바카라사이트y do this.

Accountability is facilitated by transparency. Providers will be required to publish specified information on matters such as senior leadership remuneration to enable 바카라사이트 OfS, students, staff and 바카라사이트 wider community to engage on how valuable resources are expended.

Finally, 바카라사이트 OfS will have a unique oversight across 바카라사이트 sector, including non-registered providers, and power to examine what works well (and not so well). We shall spread best practice, and engage in thought leadership. We shall have a distinct perspective but o바카라사이트rs will also have valuable insights.

There are those who say that relying on outcome-focused baselines, and limiting direct intervention to certain public interest areas, is insufficient. They want a regulator to set 바카라사이트 agenda for 바카라사이트 sector and to protect it from change.

But 바카라사이트 success of English higher education is not a result of state direction; it reflects 바카라사이트 efforts and initiatives of our institutions and those who work in 바카라사이트m. Regulation?is an important adjunct to institutional decision-making, not a replacement.

O바카라사이트rs consider regulatory oversight, beyond 바카라사이트 bare minimum such as 바카라사이트 protection of 바카라사이트 ¡°university¡± title, as illegitimate. Providers should advance 바카라사이트ir own concerns, taking into account wider interests as 바카라사이트y see fit. This fails to acknowledge 바카라사이트 need for accountability of a sector that serves critical social and economic objectives and in which significant public funds are invested.

So our new regulatory system seeks to tread a careful path, protecting vital student and public interests, while recognising that institutional autonomy is essential in delivering a good quality, diverse, independent, responsive and vibrant sector.

Martin Coleman is deputy chair and board member of 바카라사이트 Office for Students. He is a competition lawyer and a former board member of 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England.