This article is more than 2 years old
The investigation started on 16 February 2024
In what looks like the first move following a long-trailed intention to sort out the often-murky world of franchise provision, the Office for Students is to investigate the quality, management, and governance of subcontractual partners at Leeds Trinity University.
The investigation will also examine Leeds Trinity’s compliance with the registration requirement to provide information to the OfS (F3), alongside a more general examination of compliance with registration requirements and the conditions attached to degree awarding powers in relation to partnerships.
Leeds Trinity has run contractual relationships with four UK private providers for nearly half a decade, and has commenced further partnerships this year. As things currently stand, the provider subcontracts provision to:
There is also a validation arrangement with Barnsley College, and partnerships with international providers in Bangladesh and Vietnam.
Of the six UK partners, all but two (LDT and SSS) will be well-known to the Office for Students as registered providers in their own right – and given that there are no current registration conditions placed on these providers we would have to assume there are no concerns about the quality of provision.
LD Training Services (two campuses in Nottingham, plus Stanmore and Dudley) offers four business-related undergraduate degrees in partnership with Leeds Trinity University, all of which include foundation years. The only other provision on offer there is the IFA direct online route to professional membership for accountants. The Scholars School System (five campuses in London, Leicester, Birmingham, Manchester, and Bradford) offers two foundation-year enhanced undergraduate courses (in business, and in health and social care), alongside two postgraduate courses in similar topics. Neither recruit via UCAS.
According to Office for Students data, Leeds Trinity University had nearly 7,000 students taught at subcontractual partners in 2021-22 (excluding apprenticeships) – plus nearly 4,000 students taught and registered to itself.
Leeds Trinity told us:
As a responsible higher education provider we understand and take seriously our obligation to comply with all relevant rules and guidelines to meet the sector’s regulatory requirements. Leeds Trinity University will work with the Office for Students (OfS) to ensure transparency and assurance in relation to the institution’s franchise partnership arrangements.
Widening participation is at the heart of Leeds Trinity’s ethos and has been for many years. Franchise partnerships are one of a number of ways in which the University enables social mobility and raising aspirations in groups traditionally under-represented in higher education.
The Office for Students is keen to emphasise that
The opening of the investigation means that the OfS has identified potential concerns that require further scrutiny. The decision to open an investigation does not mean that any form of non-compliance or wrong-doing has taken place.