A now-shuttered private college claimed students had completed work placements essential to their courses at businesses no longer in operation, according to the English higher education regulator.

The Office for Students (OfS)?has published?the findings of its aborted investigation into the Applied Business Academy (ABA) which ceased operations last September, before the inquiry could be completed.

During the probe,?which?began in?April 2024, student loan payments to the college were suspended and the private provider, which had premises in Luton and London,?decided it could no longer provide higher education courses and the business was voluntarily wound up.?

The?OfS?said it had decided to??because?they ¡°raise concerns for students and?the appropriate use of taxpayer funding¡±, including the regulation of franchise arrangements.?

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The concerns centred around ABA¡¯s Diploma in Education and Training (DET) ¨C a qualification for students wanting to teach in the further education sector that requires participants to undertake placement activities, including 100 hours of teaching.

The regulator found many students ¡°could not have credibly completed this requirement in their placement¡±. In some cases, placements were documented as taking place at organisations that had ceased to operate, as well as ones with no clear link to education, such as small cafes, childcare providers, clothing shops and building firms.

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It also found cases where multiple students had listed the same placement location, despite the size of the organisation appearing too small to accommodate that many students.?

The college also failed to show that individuals appointed to observe student placements were qualified to do so, with no information other than the names of 13 of the assigned observers available.

At the time of ABA¡¯s closure, none of its DET students had received certification by the accrediting body City and Guilds. Since then, City and Guilds has assessed the work of some of the students and found ¡°in all cases¡± that there was insufficient evidence to confirm that the qualification requirements had been met.?

According to the OfS report, the students still enrolled at ABA when the college shut down were contacted by partner universities, Leeds Trinity University and the University of Buckingham, to explain their options, including for further study.

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Despite being unable to complete the investigation, the OfS said that it wished to ensure providers delivering courses through sub contractual arrangements ¨C also known as franchising ¨C are ¡°aware of the importance of having sufficient oversight of their partners¡±.

Higher education franchise arrangements have faced increasing scrutiny in recent years, following evidence that some students are taking out government-backed loans to enrol in substandard courses or not study at all. Ministers have recently pledged to further regulate these partnerships.?

¡°Students signed up to these courses to become further education teachers, yet found themselves on wholly unsuitable placements with little or no oversight,¡± said Philippa Pickford, director of regulation at the OfS.

¡°All institutions running similar courses need to ensure they are effectively run, are of high quality and that students are supported to gain teaching experience through their placements. Where courses are run as part of franchised provision, lead universities must also ensure the quality of courses remains high.¡±

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helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com