Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to ensure that the interests of postgraduate students are properly reflected in the operations of the (a) Office for Students and (b) UK Research and Innovation.

The Higher Education and Research Act 2017 (HERA) provides clarity on the respective responsibilities of the Office for Students (OfS) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), including with regard to postgraduate students.

The OfS is responsible for protecting the interests of all students (including postgraduate taught and research students) and the quality of all regulated provision, working with the designated quality body, the Quality Assurance Agency. OfS will be responsible for the funding of taught postgraduate education, including the teaching grant currently allocated for this purpose through Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). It will be the regulator for all degree awarding powers (DAPs), but in respect of research DAPs, there is provision for taking into account the views of UKRI.

UKRI will be responsible for all research funding, which will include the funds that Research Councils currently distribute for doctoral studies. UKRI will also be responsible for all research funding currently distributed by HEFCE, including quality-related research funding, which has an element to support the provision for doctoral students in England. UKRI, through its councils, will also be responsible for the financial sustainability of the research base. The two organisations will work together and with other bodies to understand the pipeline and take oversight of the health of disciplines through all levels of education, including postgraduate.

The two bodies are also committed to working effectively together on areas of mutual interest, including postgraduate provision, and are developing a collaboration agreement to support this aim. OfS must also have regard to any guidance given to them by the Secretary of State in performing its functions and duties, under HERA section 2(3), as must UKRI under HERA section 104.