Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new providers she expects to enter the higher education market as a result of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.

The published Impact Assessment for the Higher Education and Research Bill (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/528005/bis-16-295-he-research-bill-detailed-impact-assessment.pdf) shows the forecast impact of the reforms on the number of providers in the sector. These figures are of course estimates but we would expect around 600 providers, including both existing and new providers, to be entered in the register in the first year of the Office for Students’ operation of the register, rising to some 800 within ten years.