Full article here – https://www.aoc.co.uk/news/aoc-responds-dfe-consultation-the-ofs-regulatory-framework
Today, the Department for Education has published a consultation on the OFS regulatory framework.
In response, Julian Gravatt, Deputy Chief Executive at the Association of Colleges, said: “Colleges have offered affordable, local and employment-focused higher education across the country for decades. Around 150,000 students in over 200 colleges benefit from these opportunities each year. The Minister is right that more choice is needed to provide alternatives to the three-year residential full-time degree and colleges are well-placed to deliver this. The Department for Education’s (DfE’s) consultation published today sets out a new framework to regulate higher education. It is also important that colleges can make proper arrangements to validate their courses to avoid some of the problems that occur when a university withdraws from doing this at short notice. We want to see a genuine level playing field for colleges in the new HE landscape.”
Qualifi support this long overdue consultation and would like to point out that colleges already have access to Higher Education Advanced learner Loan recognised Ofqual regulated qualifications at Level 4, Level 5 and Level 6 as well as HE VRQ qualifications at Level 7 and Level 8 through becoming a Qualifi approved centre. Qualifi’s HE VRQ qualifications also allow progress on the final year Honours Degree and Masters Degree programmes. There is already in place an alternative to the full-time 3-year honours degree programme offered by Universities. Jason Goodyear, CEO of Qualifi invites readers to visit the Qualifi website for further information about our qualifications and how to become an approved centre.