Regulation 7B Meaning of “franchised provider”, “franchised student”, “student population”, “unregistered franchised provider”, “below-threshold franchised provider” and “qualifying franchised provider”F1

(1)

In these Regulations, a provider is a “franchised provider” in respect of a course where—

(a)

it delivers or teaches the course, or part of the course, to students who are registered at a registered provider in England, and

(b)

it does so on behalf of that registered provider.

(2)

A student is a “franchised student” where—

(a)

they are registered to study a course with a registered provider in England, and

(b)

more than 50% of the modules, credits, credit points or other unit of their course is, or may be, taught by—

(i)

a franchised provider, including where the franchised provider contracts with other providers to teach or deliver the course on its behalf, or

(ii)

multiple franchised providers, where the total percentage of the course which is taught or delivered by, or on behalf of, the franchised providers is more than 50%.

(3)

For the purposes of paragraph (2)(b), the percentage of a course that is taught or delivered by a provider is calculated as follows—

(A / B) \times 100

where—

A is the total number of modules, credits, credit points or other unit of that course which may be taught or delivered by franchised providers to that student, and
B is the number of modules, credits, credit points or other unit which that student would be likely to obtain within the period ordinarily required to complete that course.

(4)

For the purposes of this regulation, a provider is deemed to teach or deliver a course, or percentage of a course, where that provider carries out teaching or delivery itself or sub-contracts that teaching or delivery to another provider.

(5)

In respect of a franchised provider, its “student population” means the total number of franchised students that the franchised provider teaches or delivers a course (or part of a course) to, as published by the OfS from time to time.

(6)

A franchised provider’s student population includes students—

(a)

who are studying—

(i)

full-time courses;

(ii)

part-time courses;

(iii)

courses which are not eligible for financial support by way of grant or loan made by the Secretary of State;

(iv)

publicly funded courses;

(v)

courses delivered online;

(vi)

for a level 4 or higher qualification;

(b)

regardless of whether they fall within Schedule 1 of the Education (Fees and Awards) (England) Regulations 2007.

(7)

A franchised provider’s student population does not include students who are studying—

(a)

a course as part of an apprenticeship;

(b)

for modules or credits only.

(8)

Where a franchised provider is a group undertaking in respect of another franchised provider, those franchised providers will be treated as one provider for the purposes of calculating the student population.

(9)

A provider is an “unregistered franchised provider” in respect of a course, where it is—

(a)

a franchised provider, and

(b)

an unregistered provider.

(10)

A provider is not an unregistered franchised provider in respect of a course if it is—

(a)

a constituent college, where the university or institution of which the college is a constituent is itself a registered provider, or

(b)

jointly owned by two or more institutions, where—

(i)

those two institutions are themselves registered providers, and

(ii)

in connection with that course a student may be eligible for a healthcare bursary.

(11)

An unregistered franchised provider is a “below-threshold franchised provider” where—

(a)

it is not an exempt franchised provider, and

(b)

it has a student population of less than 300, determined in accordance with regulation 7D.

(12)

The Secretary of State may vary the threshold specified at paragraph (11)(b), and must publish the updated threshold figure at gov.uk.

(13)

A franchised provider is a “qualifying franchised provider” if it is—

(a)

an exempt franchised provider,

(b)

a below-threshold franchised provider, or

(c)

a registered provider.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Pt. 2A inserted (19.5.2026) by The Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/459), regs. 1(2), 6