Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment checks are made on private further education providers before public money is given to them to run further education courses; and whether the Government require a bond to be established to ensure that public money provided in student loans is protected.

To be eligible to receive Advanced Learner Loans funding, all providers must be listed on the Skills Funding Agency’s (SFA) Register of Training Organisations.

The Register includes due diligence, for example, compliance with legislation and capacity and capability questions designed to assess the ability of the provider to deliver contracts to the required standard and determine if they are financially robust. The SFA considers a provider’s track record of delivering education and training. For providers delivering just loans-funded provision, a financial health assessment of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ is required.

Once providers have met the entry criteria, and approved to offer loan-funded provision to learners, they are subject to a range of further measures and controls. These include reviews of their financial health, audit and assessment of their qualification achievement rates. Providers are also required to comply with robust funding and performance rules.