Universities condemn ‘shameful’ 13 per cent hike in OfS fees

Universities have criticised the Westminster government for planning a “bizarre” inflation-busting 13 per cent increase in the fees paid by universities to fund the English regulator, saying it puts the cost of extra bureaucracy on institutions while ministers make real-terms cuts in student maintenance loans.

The proposed increase for next year – which for the largest universities would amount to a £23,530 rise, taking their total Office for Students registration fee to £204,530 – comes at a time when universities have significant concerns about how the independent English sector regulator is operating and when their tuition fee income has been frozen by the government.

It is understood that the planned increase reflects the OfS’ taking on the “designated quality body” role plus extra responsibilities, such as on campus free speech, given to it by the government in a flurry of ministerial guidance letters.

The OfS is seen as far more subject to ministerial direction and inattentive to university autonomy than its predecessor organisation, the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

An above-inflation increase in 2023-24 registration fees for the OfS, which bills its role as being to “champion students’ interests”, would come in stark contrast to the 2.8 per cent uplift in maintenance loans for the same year – well below the consumer price index rate of inflation, which stood at 10.7 per cent in November – announced by the Department for Education on 11 January.

The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, sets the OfS’ registration fees and is currently considering the level of fees for 2023-24, but no final decision has been made.

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, said the government’s approach of “loading bureaucracy on bureaucracy and putting the costs on universities” was wrong.

“We’re looking to the OfS to do what every university is having to do, which is to cut its coat according to its cloth,” she said.

It was “time to look at the overall costs of regulation in the sector” and make it “better and more efficient”, Ms Stern added.

Tim Bradshaw, chief executive of the Russell Group, said it was “frankly bizarre” that the government was considering increasing OfS fees by 13 per cent while maintenance loans were going up by less than 3 per cent.

“It seems that instead of addressing the cost-of-living challenges facing students, the government’s priority is to bury universities under more and more red tape,” he said.

“Before any consideration of a fee increase, the regulator should demonstrate clearly how this extra funding will bring genuine benefit to students and how it plans to reduce the ever-growing volume of resource-intensive requests that distract universities from the things that matter: delivering a high-quality education and supporting the skills, research and innovation that underpin growth.”

David Green, vice-chancellor of the University of Worcester, added: “This proposed above-inflation increase of 13 per cent compares shamefully with the well below-inflation 2.8 per cent increase in the amount students may borrow for living expenses.”

An OfS spokesman said the organisation “is primarily funded by statutory registration fees paid by registered providers. Ministers determine the level of registration fees. We await their decisions about fee levels for next year.”

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com