‘Distant and combative’ OfS heavily criticised by Lords inquiry

Lords investigation calls for improvement across the board at England’s Office for Students

The Office for Students is not meeting the needs of students or universities, lacks independence from government and is “driven by the ebb and flow of short-term political priorities and media headlines”, according to a highly critical report published by the House of Lords’ Industry and Regulators Committee.

The report—entitled Must do better: The Office for Students and the looming crisis facing higher education—follows a months-long inquiry into the OfS. The report concludes that it is “clear that the poor relationship between the OfS and providers has been in part because the OfS’ approach has been overly distant and combative”.