Towards the expansion of our remit in Wales
We worked with the Welsh government, HEFCW and others as progress continued towards a more integrated tertiary sector. The Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act, which was passed by the Senedd in June 2022 and received Royal Assent in September, includes provisions to extend access to our Scheme to all post-compulsory education and training students in Wales (except for those in school sixth forms where alternative arrangements apply). The provisions under the legislation will start to come into effect once the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research in Wales is established. We are working closely with the government and others around the timing and approach to the expansion of our remit as the wider implementation of the Act is taken forward.
We have continued to engage with the DfE and others around the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill as it has progressed through the parliamentary stages. We remain concerned about some aspects of the Bill and others have raised similar concerns. The proposal that the OfS Director of Free Speech and Academic Freedom will consider complaints about freedom of speech issues could be confusing for students trying to find their way through different complaints routes. We are also concerned about the potential conflict inherent in the different functions of the OfS Director of Free Speech and Academic Freedom. We have been pleased to hear positive comment about the value for students of our role during the House of Lords stage and from stakeholders. We are working with all involved to try to make it as clear as possible for students about where to raise their concerns and what the different routes can offer if the Bill passes into legislation. There has been some reassurance from Ministers about adequate time and consultation to help with this.
We continued to work with the OfS, HEFCW and relevant professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (PSRBs) across a range of issues and to share information under our formal agreements, including about issues in complaints that may indicate a systemic concern at a provider, and OfS registration information that may impact a provider’s membership of our Scheme.
We contributed to the OfS-led taskforce on the closure of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA), sharing our learning from our experience of previous provider closures including GSM London. In this instance, all of the students were offered the opportunity to transfer to another provider, but more widely we remain concerned that students may not always be adequately protected if a provider closes and they may be left with unresolved complaints. While students can complain to us for up to a year after a closure, there are difficulties in addressing complaints about a provider that no longer exists, in particular in terms of how things can be put right for the student if we uphold their complaint. We believe further consideration is needed on how to make sure that remedies are available for students in such circumstances.
Access to independent redress for unresolved complaints is an important part of achieving fairness for students. We are continuing to engage with the UK government around developments such as the LLE and the wider strategy on access to tertiary education to ensure that independent redress for complaints is considered as part of the greater integration of higher and further education. We have also continued to encourage providers and awarding bodies that are not required to join our Scheme under legislation to do so voluntarily.
Throughout the year we met regularly and contributed to events with other ombuds schemes through our membership of the Ombudsman Association, and with the international higher education ombuds sector through the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE). This included contributing to sessions at the Ombudsman Association and ENOHE conferences, leading a review for the Ombudsman Association of the guiding principles for the recognition of ombuds schemes, and leading work to identify core values shared by ombuds bodies working in higher education settings internationally. These were important and useful opportunities to share insights and learning and keep up to date with issues and developments in the ombuds sector.
