English universities’ franchised courses may be risk to public money, regulator says

Office for Students found reports of widespread academic misconduct' and issues with recruitment agencies

England's higher education regulator has warned of serious risks to public money" in university franchise arrangements, with allegations that recruiters have faked language tests to get students on to courses without the minimum level of English.

Research by the Office for Students (OfS) has raised multiple concerns about the growing enthusiasm for franchise partnerships in higher education, where a university contracts another organisation to teach all or part of a course on its behalf.