Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the future viability of franchised higher education.

The government is deeply concerned about the abuse of public money in the franchised higher education system. Franchising grew significantly under the previous government against a backdrop of growing financial instability within higher education.

In 2023 and 2024, the Government Internal Audit Agency, the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee all raised concerns about abuse, unethical behaviour and fraud. Recent media reports have highlighted these issues further, focusing on taxpayer money being misspent on loans for students who do not engage with or complete their studies, and those who intentionally exploit the system.

This government, along with the Office for Students (OfS) and the Student Loans Company, has already taken measures to clamp down on abuse of the student finance system. My right hon. Friend, The Secretary of State for Education set out these, and further steps, on 25 March in a ministerial statement, which can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-03-25/hcws547.

This statement makes clear that when done well, franchising can be an important driver of inclusion and can break down barriers to students who may otherwise not be able to study higher education. Our package of plans aims to protect the best franchised provision but eliminate poor quality provision and put an end to abuse and fraud.

The department is currently consulting on proposals to bring the larger franchised providers under the OfS’ direct regulatory oversight. This consultation and the impact assessment which was published alongside it are attached can also be found here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/higher-education-quality-and-regulation/franchising-in-higher-education/.

It would not be appropriate for us to pre-empt the outcomes of that consultation by making judgements about what the future of franchising will be. However, the government is clear that if we do not see changes that address the issues of concern, further action will be taken.