2022 Autumn Term 1

The know zone

  • Primary concerns
    Key Stage 2 data seems to confirm expectations: the pandemic has hit primary pupils' learning hard, though with one curious exception, says Tiffnie Harris. More
  • The wait goes on
    The national funding formula (NFF), introduced five years ago, is taking a long time to implement and still more work is needed to make it fit for purpose, says Julia Harnden. More
  • Office for Students
    As last year's sixth formers head off to university this month, Kevin Gilmartin looks at just who is watching over the millions of undergraduates out there. More
  • Strategy falls short
    Hayley Dunn says the government's new school resource management (SRM) strategy doesn't go far enough to recognise the vital role of school business leaders. More
  • Just the job?
    Are you finding it difficult to recruit staff? If so, are there particular roles or subjects that you are struggling to recruit for? Here, ASCL members have their say. More
  • Positive influences
    Director of Learning David Whitaker says ASCL Council provides him with a voice and an opportunity to influence 'the system'. Here, he shares his passion for school leadership, Council, music and beer. More
  • Leadership magic
    A good headteacher knows when to stay in the background and let people get on with their jobs, just like a famous, perpetually stoned, animated bunny, says Carl Smith. More
Bookmark and Share

As last year’s sixth formers head off to university this month, Kevin Gilmartin looks at just who is watching over the millions of undergraduates out there.

Office for Students

What is the Office for Students (OfS)? 

It’s hard to disagree with the OfS’s strapline, “We want every student to have a fulfilling experience of higher education (HE) that enriches their lives and careers.” After all, that’s what everyone in schools and colleges who advised their students to go to university also wants. The main power that the OfS uses to try to make this happen is through its role as a regulator. 

The OfS regulates the HE system in England, working in the interests of all students and prospective students whether full- or part-time, undergraduate or postgraduate (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own regulators). It’s a challenging remit, trying to ensure that over 400 universities, colleges and other HE providers meet their obligations to students. Their key objectives are to make sure that students:

  • are helped to access, succeed in and progress from higher education
  • receive a high-quality academic experience
  • have their interests protected while they study
  • can progress to employment or further study, with qualifications that hold their value over time
  • receive value for money 

Access and participation plans 

One of the thorniest HE issues, in recent years, has been how to reduce the gap between the most advantaged and disadvantaged students in terms of their university destinations. Then, there is the issue of how well students perform once they are actually at university. The key piece of regulation that the OfS uses here is the ‘access and participation plan’, which all universities or colleges must produce. This sets out targets for how under-represented students are supported to apply to, and secure a place at, a particular university, participate in their education and gain a fulfilling career upon graduation. 

The incentive to have a plan in place is huge. Not having a plan means that a university is not allowed to charge higher fees to students of £9,250. So, the monitoring and approval of these plans is a powerful big stick that the OfS has at its disposal. 

Uni Connect outreach programme 

This programme operates through 29 partnerships of universities, colleges, schools and other local partners to offer activities, advice and information on the benefits and realities of going on to HE. Partnerships focus their work on local areas where HE participation is lower than might be expected, given the GCSE results of the young people who live there. Since 2017, about 750,000 young people have engaged in the Uni Connect programme involving 2,500 schools and colleges. 

The Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) 

The TEF provides information about the quality, environment and outcomes of teaching in a university, enabling them to receive a gold, silver or bronze award. The scheme’s received mixed reports as to its effectiveness in raising standards and supporting students and is why the OfS has consulted on a new TEF framework, which includes a new category of ‘requires improvement’. This will form part of the OfS’s wider approach to regulating quality by aiming to incentivise excellent teaching and learning, over and above the minimum quality requirements. 

Discover Uni 

Central to the OfS mission is to make sure that all potential HE students receive effective information so they can make the right choices. As part of this work, the OfS has created Discover Uni to support prospective students in their research and decision-making. This UK-wide service enables users to search for and compare UK undergraduate courses, giving access to course information and statistics taken from national surveys and data. The data includes the National Student Survey (NSS) (an annual survey that allows final year students to provide feedback about their HE experience) and the Graduate Outcomes survey (an annual survey of graduates 15 months after they finish their course, showing employment outcomes and earnings). 

There is also a central teacher and adviser resource hub presently being scoped, with some ASCL members helping in this process. Alongside this are the development of subject guides to support pre-applicant students, giving a picture of what each subject offers, as well as careers and jobs that graduates progress into. 

It seems therefore as if the OfS is trying to ensure both better information for our sixth formers and better outcomes when they then get to university. Advising young people to go to university is a big responsibility for teachers and advisers – we can do with all the help that’s out there, including from the OfS. Once our students have flown our nest, they’ll need even more support, and we must hope that the OfS can increasingly make this happen. 

Kevin Gilmartin
ASCL Post-16 and Colleges Specialist
@ASCL_UK

LEADING READING