Why Obvious Solutions Fail
Chapter 13
Sources supporting this chapter, with the manuscript section they relate to and a note explaining how each item contributes.
Showing all 33 references
Evidence used
Material used to support factual claims and explanations in this chapter.
Source
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. 16 May 2016.
Used for the policy framing of student choice, provider competition, market entry and the statement that provider exit is part of a healthy competitive market rather than something government would normally prevent.
Source
Office for Students. 3 February 2022.
Used for the general account of the English registration regime and the formal regulatory categories covering quality, student protection, financial sustainability and management and governance.
Source
Office for Students. Last updated 24 November 2022.
Used for the discussion of registered providers' obligations to be financially viable and sustainable, to have the resources to deliver advertised courses, and for the OfS's use of forecasts, financial information and provider obligations when judging financial risk.
Source
Office for Students. Last updated 24 November 2022.
Used for the claim that providers must have adequate and effective management and governance arrangements, including arrangements capable of delivering advertised courses and continuing compliance with registration conditions.
Source
Office for Students.
Used for the claim that registered providers must have OfS-approved student protection plans setting out how students can continue and complete, transfer, or be compensated if completion is not possible.
Source
Office for Students.
Used for the discussion of teach-out or transfer arrangements, affected-student communication, consumer protection, validators and professional, statutory or regulatory bodies.
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Office for Students. 30 July 2024.
Used for the account of providers' obligations to give students clear, accurate and timely information, and for the link between student protection, fair terms, complaints, refunds and compensation.
Source
Office for Students.
Used for the regulatory requirement that providers publish and implement an approved student protection plan and inform the OfS when relevant plan events occur.
Source
Office for Students.
Used for the discussion of Market Exit Risk, student protection directions, market exit plans, teach-out, transfer, complaints, refunds, compensation and archiving arrangements.
Source
Office for Students. 20 October 2025.
Used for the claim that provider closure can seriously affect students, that the OfS works with providers and stakeholders to reduce the impact of closure, and that it does not have powers to prevent closure or funds to mitigate the effects.
Source
Office for Students. 20 October 2025.
Used for the claim that the OfS can require a provider at risk of closure to produce a market exit plan, map course options, support students, preserve records and make arrangements for refunds, compensation and complaints, and may involve government departments, the OIA, the Student Loans Company, UKRI, validators or alternative providers where appropriate.
Source
Office for Students. 20 October 2025.
Used for the discussion of advance contingency planning, teach-out planning, course mapping, student-record maintenance, data-sharing agreements and early conversations with the OfS.
Source
Office for Students. 3 April 2025.
Used for the discussion of student record management, archiving academic records, preserving student data in the event of closure, data-sharing agreements, validators, teach-out and consistent communications between stakeholders.
Source
Office for Students. 25 April 2023, last updated 20 November 2025.
Used for the account of OfS risk-based financial monitoring, including triage, detailed assessment, informal engagement, formal monitoring, F3 notices, specific conditions of registration, student protection directions and market exit planning where a registered provider may be unable to continue providing higher education.
Source
Office for Students. 16 May 2024.
Used for the account of universities and colleges as autonomous institutions responsible for financial sustainability, the OfS's concern about unrealistic recruitment forecasts, the importance of contingency planning and early engagement, and the regulator's emphasis on governance scrutiny, lenders and student protection during financial stress.
Source
Office for Students. Updated 10 February 2026.
Used for the point that awarding a degree depends on degree-awarding powers, not merely on finding another institution willing to teach.
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GOV.UK.
Used for the claim that a sponsored student must find a new sponsor if their provider loses its sponsor licence, and that time limits may apply.
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UK Visas and Immigration, Home Office.
Used for sponsor duties and reporting obligations in mergers, takeovers and student transfers.
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House of Commons Library. 8 August 2024.
Used for the explanation of administration as a creditor-focused insolvency procedure, the statutory moratorium and the administrator's ability to trade on while seeking a rescue or better outcome. The procedure available to a university depends on its legal form.
Source
House of Commons Library. 11 February 2022.
Used for the discussion of directors' duties shifting toward creditors during financial difficulty and the risk of wrongful trading where trading continues after there is no reasonable prospect of avoiding liquidation.
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Universities UK.
Used for the scale claim that UK higher education involves millions of students and hundreds of thousands of staff, drawing on HESA student and staff records.
Source
David Devins, Jeff Gold, George Boak, Robert Garvey and Paul Willis. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. 2017.
Used for the account of universities as anchor institutions that can be major local employers and spenders.
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NHS England Workforce, Training and Education.
Used for the point that nursing education involves substantial practice experience and formal arrangements between universities and clinical-practice providers.
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Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Used for the point that nursing, midwifery and nursing associate routes depend on approved education providers and approved programmes.
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UK Parliament. 2017.
Used for the discussion of university title, higher education corporation governance and dissolution, and transfer schemes for staff, property, rights and liabilities.
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GOV.UK.
Used for the discussion of staff-transfer protections, continuity of employment, consultation, limits on changing terms because of a transfer, and the possibility of later redundancy for economic, technical or organisational reasons.
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University of Kent. 4 February 2026.
Used as one contemporary example of group-structure language, including one legal entity, retained institutional names and brands, a unified board, one executive team and one vice-chancellor.
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UK Research and Innovation. Last updated 16 February 2026.
Used for the claim that UKRI-funded research data is subject to data-management, access, preservation, copyright, intellectual property, ethical, legal and commercial constraints.
Source
UK Research and Innovation. 1 October 2025.
Used for the claim that funded research creates continuing organisational accountability for grant compliance, ethics, records, inspection, staff, project conduct, intellectual assets and post-award reporting.
Go deeper
Selected contextual material that extends or complements the chapter.
Further reading
Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.
Useful context on the practical disruption students face when courses, campuses or providers close.
Further reading
Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.
Useful context on complaints and casework issues arising from closure, including students who do not follow a conventional progression route.
Further reading
Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.
Useful context on transfer complaints, planned teach-out periods and sudden closures.
Further reading
Dr Sara Hassan, Johannes Read, Prof. Rebecca Riley, Alice Pugh and Prof. Anne Green. National Civic Impact Accelerator. November 2024.
Useful context on civic universities, local economic impact, student spending, place-based engagement and anchor-institution frameworks.
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