The Office for Students (OfS), the regulator for universities and colleges in England, wants a tougher system for judging teaching quality. Under proposals published on 22 October 2026, institutions that fall below minimum standards could have their student recruitment reduced. Only institutions with a good rating would be able to raise tuition fees in line with inflation.
The OfS says the goal is simple: every student, at every registered university and college, should get high-quality teaching and a good chance of success, and institutions should keep improving rather than just clear the bar.
The proposals were announced as the regulator’s new joint chief executives, Ruth Hannant and Polly Payne, set out how they want to run the regulator. The consultation is open until 28 January 2027, and students can respond.
What the OfS is proposing
The proposals rebuild the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), the scheme that rates universities in England on teaching and student results. According to the OfS consultation document:
- Every registered university and college would be assessed against minimum requirements. Nearly all would be assessed in a first three-year cycle starting in 2027–28.
- Institutions that opt in to a full rating would be rated Gold, Silver, Bronze or Requires improvement, separately for the student experience and for student outcomes.
- Institutions that do not opt in would simply be judged Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory.
- Site visits would not be routine, but would happen where the OfS sees particular risks.
- Ratings would be public. The OfS would publish its reports, and universities would have to display their ratings.
Stronger consequences for weak teaching
The biggest change is what happens after the rating:
- Recruitment limits: an institution rated Requires improvement or Unsatisfactory would have its student recruitment reduced, and would normally be reassessed after two years.
- Tuition fees: the inflation-linked rise in fees, and any future rises set by the government, would be open only through TEF ratings.
- Degree-awarding powers: only institutions with higher ratings could apply for or extend the right to award their own degrees. While the reforms are under way, the OfS says it will not accept new applications for these powers.
- Partner-taught courses: students taught by a partner college on a university’s behalf would count fully towards that university’s rating. Courses that a university only validates would be judged separately, and a poor result could restrict its power to validate.
Better-rated institutions would be checked less often: every five years for Gold, four for Silver, three for Bronze or Satisfactory, and two for Requires improvement or Unsatisfactory. Checks can be brought forward if serious concerns arise.
New leaders, a different tone
Ruth Hannant and Polly Payne, both former senior civil servants, were appointed joint chief executives in March 2026 and share the job. In an interview with Times Higher Education published on 30 October, they said they want the regulator to listen more, after years in which many university leaders saw it as adversarial.
“We’re really determined that the OfS is really open to challenge,” Payne said. The pair told the paper they aim to regulate with “no surprises” and to work with universities by agreement where they can.
Not everyone is convinced
Writing on Wonkhe, Chris Husbands and Janice Kay, the former chair and deputy chair of the TEF, agreed that the OfS is right to act more firmly on poor teaching. But they warned that the plans move the system away from helping universities improve and towards box-ticking compliance.
They also raised concerns that universities which take many students from disadvantaged backgrounds could look weaker on raw results, and that small institutions with little data will be hard to judge fairly.
Key dates
- 5 November 2026: the OfS publishes supporting guidance and updated data dashboards.
- 28 January 2027: the consultation closes.
- Spring 2027: the OfS expects to announce its decisions, with final guidance in summer 2027.
- January to July 2028: the first assessments under the new system take place, with the first results due by the end of July 2028.
What this means for you
If you are choosing a university or college in England, look up its current TEF rating on the OfS website and on the university’s own pages. Ratings from the 2023 exercise still apply until the new system takes over. A Gold or Silver rating tells you the regulator judged the teaching and student results well above the minimum.
If your course is taught at a partner college, check which university awards your degree and is responsible for its quality. Under these plans, that university’s rating would include your course.
If you study in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, these changes do not apply directly. The OfS regulates England only; the other nations have their own systems.
If you are a current student, you can respond to the consultation on the OfS website before 28 January 2027. The OfS says it wants students to have a bigger role in judging the quality of their education.
These are proposals, not final rules, and they may change after the consultation.
Sources: Office for Students, consultation on the future quality system (stage two) and press release, 22 October 2026; Department for Education, March 2026; Times Higher Education, 30 October 2026; Wonkhe, 26 October 2026. Checked on 30 October 2026.