Providers ’must take franchise responsibilities more seriously’ claims a Time Higher Education article dated February 26. Reporting on the Public Accounts Committee hearing we referred to last week, Tom Williams suggests that:
“Some English universities need to do more to ensure franchised provision is the same quality as that delivered directly, senior figures in the Department for Education (DfE) have said, as they hinted that institutions will soon be expected to comply with further regulation in this area”.
Julia Kinniburgh, the director general for skills at the DfE told the Public Accounts Committee that guidance on what student attendance and engagement with a franchised course should look like will be published ‘before the summer’.
The Public Accounts Committee hearing is investigating a National Audit Office Report that highlighted concerns connected to student loan fraud detected in franchised courses, and whilst this is not widespread, it clearly highlights issues with oversight which will naturally and quite rightly lead to further scrutiny and regulation.
Susan Ackland-Hood permanent secretary to the DfE states that:
“We do know that the franchised part of the sector is a place where we are trying to encourage providers to do new and different things, and anywhere where you try to sponsor non-traditional modes of delivery you have a heightened risk of people doing things that aren’t quite what you want them to do”.
She adds:
“some lead providers who have not taken their responsibilities around making sure they are really thinking hard about quality governance and safeguards in their franchised provision as hard – as seriously – as their directly delivered provision”.
There is no evidence that ‘fraud’ is widespread in the Education sector, in fact the report focuses on one franchise provider and one lead provider, however this instance will inevitably lead to regulatory change across the whole sector.
This is a good thing, isn’t it? Although what is of concern is that the MPs investigating the National Audit Office report frequently appeared confused about how franchising and student finance works, according to the author of the article.
Again, the news is not all bad, more regulation and oversight are the friend of the exemplar, those franchise partners that focus on quality, of student, delivery and outcomes will fare well in the future, because let’s not forget, Susan Lapworth, the chief executive of the OfSin summarising the financial health if the sector suggests that:
“more providers were forecasting deficits and weaker cash flow in the coming year and for “a small group, the income from these franchise arrangements is material to their sustainability”.
Franchising is here to stay but with more regulation and oversight and therefore, the need for existing and potential partners to be an exemplar is all the more imperative.
Stephen Smith CEO Illuminare Education Ltd, February 27, 2024