Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the representations by Independent Higher Education that the market for validation services is “dysfunctional, opaque, unreliable and anti-competitive”.

The Office for Students (OfS) published 'Consultation on quality and standards conditions - Analysis of responses to consultation and decision' on 2 March 2022, in response to its consultation on quality and standards conditions. This publication acknowledges that several issues were raised during the consultation about validation.

The OfS has signalled that it will consider further the operation of the validation system in England, including the extent to which OfS should use the commissioning power given to the OfS by section 50 of the Higher Education Act 2017.

We are expecting the OfS to consider a review of the validation system in the coming financial year.