This is good from Richard - a lens to look at the future of quality assurance in HE is that applied by David Watson in 2006. Then he was looking back on a ‘Twenty Years War’ but maybe it was a lull in a Forty Years War.

OfS regulatory interventions news. Between Oct 22 and May 23, OfS looked at the quality of business courses - a report was published in Jan 24 and today the regulatory outcome is published. OfS considers the actions the university has taken will be effective in remedying the breach of B2 condition.

University ranking remains silly - but there’s something to agree with in the accompanying leader article. Our leading universities are one of the UK’s great success stories. That includes all 130 in the ranking and many more providers outside the scope of the league table too.

Former sites of HEIs: a series. Gloucestershire College of Domestic Science, first opened in 1891 renamed College of Education in 1967 and moved from Barack Square to Oxstalls. Mergers led to Cheltenham & Gloucester College of HE which became University of Gloucestershire. Site is council offices.

Presumably the launch of the quality assessment system would have been signed off by the OfS Board. In the past, big announcements have come just after the Board met. If they’ve just had a meeting, maybe they can release papers from earlier meetings? moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2023/09/20/l...

The consultation on the TEF (and other quality interventions) is out this morning. TEF becomes risky - particularly if you get a ‘bronze’. Good overview from @dkernohan.bsky.social already up if you need to arrive in the office fully briefed on what OfS are up to.

OfS Degree Awarding Powers News: Multiverse has an extension to time limited powers to award degrees in computing and business and management for a further two years without the limit to specific degree titles.

A common feature in universities is additional separate social facilities for medical students. Oxford Open Doors today was a chance to look around Osler House. Clinical students have a club house and there are artefacts from their sports and dramatic activities.

After the excitement of a possible merger, here comes a possible acquisition. Presumably it’s explained to whom the £30m would go if someone bought Buckingham (that info behind the paywall sadly) www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09...

From Maynooth College to Newman-ooth College. Just as the debate raged about funding Catholic Education in Ireland, St John Henry Newman was here in Littlemore. Fantastic to visit as part of @oxfordprestrust.bsky.social Open Doors. Displays of artefacts include his MA hood.

Display of artefacts connected with Frank McCourt in the People’s Museum include his DLitt gown. Awarded in 1997 by @unioflimerick.bsky.social particularly for Angela’s Ashes; making the city of Limerick famous throughout the world.

OfS degree awarding powers news: a variation. Cornwall College Group has had foundation degree awarding powers since 2018. From May 2026 it will have those powers on an indefinite basis and will have powers to award bachelors degrees for four years.

There’s a nice artefact: the @irishtimes.com pull out guide to the Higher Options Expo. Here showing how the exhibitors are grouped. The articles show the current concerns, with a push towards taking courses in English in continental Europe. (Marketing stuff should go in a Museum of HE)

Nice to get a notification via email of a change to registration status: BCOM has become ‘registered approved’. There’s a link to a substantial assessment report which notes the assessor’s concerns about meeting B1. Would be handy to see a regulatory case report on what OfS thought of that.

A ‘group’ not a single merged university - with two sets of degree awarding powers. There’s a lot to unpack in this announcement from Greenwich and Kent, but it’s definitely new. (Let’s not call it a super-university though) wonkhe.com/blogs/the-fi...

Former sites of HEIs: a series. The Royal University of Ireland took over Exhibition Palace in 1883. University College Dublin were based in the buildings, eventually relocating from Earlsfort Terrace to Belfield in 1970. The buildings were converted to become the National Concert Hall.

Sites of lectures about higher education: Rotunda, Dublin. On five consecutive Mondays during May and June 1852 St John Henry Newman gave lectures on the Idea of the University. Part of the site is the Gate Theatre.

It’s important that students have their consumer rights respected, but an older notion that they are members of a university also holds. @dantinkler.bsky.social is right to note that students’ role in governance is more important than ever. www.advance-he.ac.uk/news-and-vie...

Sites of fierce political debate about higher education funding: Maynouth. Increasing the parliamentary grant to St Patrick’s college split the government in 1845. With the money, the College got A W N Pugin to design new buildings (but the funds weren’t enough to complete his whole scheme). #histed

Continuing online meetings of @acregcouncil.bsky.social is really helpful - there’s graduation going on outside while we get helpful presentations on policy implementation.

A chance to buy something that looks like a college right in the heat of the buzzy student area of East Oxford. As it’s a former convent, it even comes with a chapel. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/1...

A provider panel is a good step from the OfS to connect with the sector. Obviously a dozen accountable officers meeting 5 times a year needs to supplement wider engagement with a diverse sector. www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-an...

Again, higher education buildings feature in the #StirlingPrize shortlist. The new building for LCF is said to now be the tallest higher education building in the UK (it’s slightly taller than the Arts Tower in Sheffield) but won’t be if clock towers count. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

The regulatory activity of OfS is inherently interesting, but also a guide to where it is taking action. But spotting that activity can be tricky - especially as OfS now expect you to ‘browse’ the register to spot changes. A post about the register: moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2025/09/03/h...

The start of the CGHE webinar series for the year - take a late lunch on a Tuesday and discover a wide array of HE research. There’s a theme of ‘universities under fire’ this term, kicking off with ‘weaponising universities’ today. www.researchcghe.org

Former sites of HEIs: a series. BIMM’s site in King’s Square, Bristol. Here from 2008, has opened a new site just down the hill. Was offered to rent in August 2024.

Over the next month many students will move into accommodation in the UK. How many will allow their parents to linger to help set up, and how many will bring an interior designer along? www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

Tourist asks version of the Ryle category mistake question: ‘Where is Christ Church, the main university campus?’ Having just come from there, opt for giving directions not explanation of the collegiate university.

Here’s a challenging governance scenario: it’s disputed who the members of the trustees are, so it’s disputed whether the appointment of the university president is valid. A judge will need to decide who runs the place. www.miamiherald.com/news/local/e...

Has Nottingham got another campus, or is the Mailonline picture editor really confused? www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

When a developer proposed a student accommodation block in our neighbourhood, they promised lots of things to get planning permission. One of these, a landscape management plan, was a condition. They promised biodiversity and public amenity. This week Unite dug it up & laid gravel.

OfS Register News - a new provider brings to total back to 429. The Education for Industry Group is now ‘approved’ with a basic fee limit. It trades as Fashion Retail Academy which offers accelerated degrees under franchise from Falmouth.

Chelsea is one of the best ‘what if’ stories in HE history. It was a College of Advanced Technology and so could have been made a technical university. It was planning to go to St Albans, but it didn’t happen; the college stayed, joining the University of London and later merged into Kings.

A curious thing has been the length of time it has taken DfE to appoint new members to the OfS Board. There have been vacancies since December 2023. Three new people plus a full term for Neil Swift who joined in May. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Not to be picky, but it’s not really possible to be a university in England and not already be registered with the OfS. It’s nice that the OfS style guide has moved away from the exclusive use of ‘provider’, but…

Former sites of HEIs: a series. The foundation stone for Mason College of Science was laid in 1875, becoming the University of Birmingham in 1900. The university continued to use the building, but it was demolished in 1963. Chamberlain’s monument remains, but Mason’s has gone.

This week on Wonkhe: Registration rules are changing - but what does registration actually mean for providers, students, and government. Mike Ratcliffe asks the difficult questions

When you look for news stories about students, you can find some unusual headlines… Part of the prize for demonstrating enthusiasm for dairy is to have your likeness sculpted out of butter at the Minnesota State Fair. bringmethenews.com/minnesota-li...

Here’s a thing. Dartington Hall Trust is a registered OfS provider. It has listed lots of trading names, one of which is an actual HE provider: Schumacher College. But last year it said it was closing the courses and turns out the Trust sold the College in July. www.dartington.org/news/schumac...

The OfS has introduced new conditions for providers that apply to be registered when it re-opens applications. The new rules protect students and taxpayers, so the 429 providers on the register should study these conditions as much as aspirant providers. wonkhe.com/blogs/youre-...

A change to OfS teaching funding comes from franchise students. Which are famously stable and not susceptible to sudden changes of partners, so it’s entirely sensible to use last year’s data and not tell providers what the numbers are. For a few providers these are big numbers.

OfS have emailed with an ‘altert’ with news about DAP awards for Northern School of Contemporary Dance and TEC Partnership. There’s links to both the assessment reports and the DAPs orders. www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-provider...

Again, the transfer market for vice-chancellors in operation: VC at Liverpool Hope moves to Canterbury Christ Church. As yet there’s none of the fun of a transfer window, with VCs being snapped up on deadline day. www.fenews.co.uk/executive-ap...

Former sites of HEIs: a series. The Royal College of Art was founded in 1837 as the Government School of Design, moved to South Kensington as part of a range of art and science schools. Became the RCA in 1896. New building opened in 1962, the previous site merged into V&A.

There’s a serious question in here: do we have a ‘system’ of higher education in England (let alone the UK). If so, how would it be rationalised? Who would do the planning? Oh, and OfS plays no part: ‘it should be abolished’ profserious.substack.com/p/doing-some...

Interesting that the Mail have put their university ranking behind the paywall today, but unsure they can claim ‘every’ university is in while not including the likes of Arden, BPP, Law and Regents. (Nice set of logos though).

This is an eye-catching NSS headline - but there’s a key detail missing. The university is ‘top’ in the CAH3 ‘Performing Arts - non specific’ code - where only a handful of providers classify their courses (it has 7 students). It’s not top in the CAH2 Performing Arts.

Sites of former HEIs: Bristol Municipal School of Art. Starts as a practical school in 1853, moves to the Royal West of England Academy. Coming under the local authority, the West of England College of Art moves to Bower Ashton in 1969 and merges with Bristol Polytechnic.

Important message from Dr Jo Saxton about the clearing part of the #UCAS process. It’s not a panicky thing; turns out that half of placed students go back to one of their original five applications. Very useful conversation curated by @hepi-news.bsky.social this morning.

Starting a list of HE providers in Bristol. Here’s ABT School & Skin Clinic (plus ‘Medical School’). Offerings include £950 ‘gold standard’ longevity course for doctors and £9500 L6 diploma in Aesthetic Practice (10 lectures, the course is 535 hours).