Guidance for providers about reportable events during
coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
1. The OfS has revised its requirements for reportable events to minimise the regulatory burden
on providers during the period of disruption resulting from the coronavirus pandemic andensure it has the information necessary in the current circumstances.
2. Paragraph 494 of the OfS’s regulatory framework1 defines a reportable event as:

any event or circumstance that, in the judgement of the OfS, materially affects or could
materially affect the provider’s legal form or business model, and/or its willingness or ability tocomply with its conditions of registration.

3. This document provides guidance for registered providers about how paragraph 494 should beinterpreted until further notice. It includes guidance about:•Two new narrowly-defined reportable events relating to:i. short-term financial risk
ii. cessation or suspension of the delivery of higher education, including the inability toaward qualifications or credit•

The removal of requirements to report some existing types of event•

An ongoing requirement to report some existing types of event.

4. If providers identify other very significant events not explicitly identified below they should
contact the OfS at regulation@officeforstudents.org.uk to seek guidance. We are taking thisdifferent approach in the current circumstances because we recognise that it is difficult toanticipate the issues that may arise and normal judgements about materiality are unlikely toproperly recognise the extraordinary circumstances in which providers are operating.
5. Reports should be submitted through the OfS portal in the normal way. Information on the useof the portal and support for use of the portal is included in Annex C of the Notice on newreporting requirements.2

1 See www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/regulation/the-regulatory-framework-for-higher-education-in-england/
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Available at www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/regulatory-requirements-during-the-coronaviruscovid19-pandemic/1New reportable events
Short-term financial risk
6. This reporting requirement does not apply to further education colleges and sixth form collegesthat are regulated by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). It applies to all otherregistered providers.
7. Registered providers are normally required to report to the OfS material events with possible
financial viability or sustainability implications. The coronavirus pandemic creates conditions inwhich many providers are likely to experience a material change in their financial position andperformance that would normally be reportable to the OfS. It is not possible at the moment forproviders to identify the long-term impact of the pandemic and so we are removing the general
requirement for a provider to report events with implications for viability or sustainability over athree- or five-year horizon. However, providers who have identified significant financial
concerns on a longer time horizon should contact us on regulation@officeforstudents.org.uk toseek guidance.
8. Instead we are putting in place a requirement to report short-term financial risk as defined inparagraphs 10 to 14 below. Collecting this information is necessary to allow us to identify
quickly those providers that are likely to experience acute financial challenges in the short term.
It will also help us to understand patterns across the sector and the exposure of different typesof provider to developing events. This information will allow us to consider with government andother stakeholders, the financial risks being faced by providers.
9. We may revise this requirement as the situation develops. Where we consider there may befinancial risks to a provider based on our own modelling we may also initiate discussions with it
about this.
10. A provider is required to report to the OfS if it considers it to be reasonably likely that its
liquidity will drop below 30 days3 at any point during a rolling three month period fromthe date of the report to the OfS.
11. If a provider’s normal cash management policy is to maintain lower levels of liquidity and aforecast liquidity level below 30 days is a result of active cash management, it only needs toreport this to us if it considers that it is reasonably likely that it will not be able to manage this in
the usual manner. If a provider would normally fall to 30 days’ liquidity but believes it can
mitigate this and intends to do so it does not need to report this.
12. In assessing whether its liquidity is reasonably likely to drop below 30 days, a provider must
consider the impact of circumstances or events that it believes are reasonably likely to occur inthe period. This might include, but is not limited to:•A reduction in forecast student recruitment, from UK-based students, EU students, andinternational students

3 Liquidity is defined as the number of days of average cash expenditure covered by liquidity values, i.e. theratio of cash and cash equivalents over expenditure excluding depreciation multiplied by a factor of 365(Liquidity days = (cash and cash equivalents)/(expenditure-depreciation)*365).
2•A reduction in forecast income from non-teaching or research activity•

A reduction in forecast income from the provision of accommodation to students•An increase in payment of refunds or compensation to students as a result of changes tocourse delivery, accommodation, or other services.

13. A provider should report on such short-term financial risk within five days of the date that it
concludes that a scenario is reasonably likely to occur or, if that is not possible due to
exceptional circumstances beyond the control of the provider, as soon as reasonably
practicable thereafter and without undue delay.
14. A report should consist of:•A brief description of the relevant scenario or scenarios•A statement that sets out the date(s) on which the provider considers that liquidity isreasonably likely to drop below 30 days.

15. We recognise the challenges associated with forecasting financial performance in the current
environment. Therefore we are not asking providers to submit a full set of updated financial
forecasts as part of their report.
16. When a provider reports such short-term financial risk, we will contact it to discuss its reportand are likely to ask for further information to help us to understand the issues. We may ask forfurther information about the longer-term financial implications of these issues at a later date.
17. The financial position of individual providers and of the sector as a whole is likely to continue tochange. This means that we may amend or extend these reporting requirements in the future.

Cessation or suspension of delivery of higher education, including the inability toaward qualifications or credit
18. This reporting requirement applies to all registered providers.
19. Registered providers are normally required to report to the OfS events or circumstances thatmaterially affect or could materially affect the provider’s legal form or business model, and/or its
willingness or ability to comply with its conditions of registration, including the B conditions
which relate to the quality and standards of courses. They are also normally required to reportcampus and course closures and other events that trigger an approved student protection plan
being implemented.
20. The coronavirus pandemic creates conditions in which many providers are likely to makechanges to the way they deliver higher education that would normally be reportable to the OfS.
We recognise that there is likely to be significant change and disruption to the delivery of higher
education, in particular in relation to teaching and assessment, and so we are removing thegeneral requirement for a provider to report events that would be of interest to us in normal
circumstances.
21. Instead we are putting in place a requirement to report significant changes to delivery of higher
education as defined in paragraph 23 below. Collecting this information is necessary to allow3

us to identify quickly those providers that have stopped delivering higher education teaching or
have made significant changes to the way they deliver courses. It will help us to understandpatterns across the sector and the impact of developing events on different types of students.
This information will allow us to identify where further guidance may be necessary to ensure
courses can continue to be delivered and the interests of students protected.
22. We may revise this requirement as the situation develops.
23. A provider is required to report to the OfS if it has taken, or plans to take, any of thefollowing actions•The provider ceases or suspends delivery of any higher education courses to current
students where reasonably equivalent alternative study options are not provided.
A provider does have to report that it:i. is no longer delivering higher education to one or more groups of students
ii. is ceasing or suspending delivery of one or more modes of study to current
students, for example no longer delivering a course on a part-time basisiii. is ceasing or suspending delivery of higher education, in whole or in part, to current
international students with a visa issued under a Tier 4 licenceiv. is ceasing or suspending delivery of higher education in such a way that current
students who expected to complete their course in the 2019-20 academic year are
unable to do sov. has lost accreditation by a professional, statutory or regulatory body (PSRB)
because of changes to the delivery of higher education made as a result of thecoronavirus pandemic.
A provider does not have to report that it:i. has moved teaching and assessment to an online or other delivery method
ii. has temporarily closed a campus or the provider as a whole, as long as teachingcontinues to be delivered•

The provider is unable to award qualifications or credit for any unit, module or course•

The provider decides to transfer students between its teaching sites•

A provider withdraws offers made to applicants due to start a course in or after April 2020.
A provider does have to report that it:i. no longer intends to accept an intake where offers have already been made.

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A provider does not have to report that it:i. has postponed the planned start date of a course
ii. has transferred offers to an equivalent course due to start in 2020-21.
24. For courses that are delivered through a sub-contractual arrangement the lead provider shouldmake the report. For courses delivered through a validation arrangement, the provider with adirect contractual relationship with the students should make the report.4
25. Reporting on significant changes to the delivery of higher education should include reports on
any relevant matters relating to transnational educational activities.

Removal of existing requirements to report some types of event
26. Paragraph 494 of the regulatory framework contains a list of events that are, or are likely to be,reportable. We recognise that this means that governing bodies and leadership teams will have
reduced capacity to undertake routine reporting of regulatory matters. We are therefore
removing until further notice the general requirement to report the following events:•The provider becoming aware of legal or court action•

Regulatory investigation and/or sanction by other regulators•

Any new partnerships, including validation or subcontractual arrangements•Opening a new campus•

Intended campus, department, subject or provider closure•

The implementation of a student protection plan except where this is covered under‘cessation or suspension of delivery of higher education’ in paragraph 23 above.

27. If a provider considers that a very significant issue has arisen in relation to any of the types ofevent listed above, it should contact the OfS at regulation@officeforstudents.org.uk ortelephone 0117 931 7305 to seek guidance as outlined above at paragraph 4.

Ongoing requirement to report some types of event
28. A small number of the events listed in paragraph 494 of the regulatory framework continue tobe reportable. These are:•changes of legal status of the provider•

changes of ownership or control of the provider•

the provider resolving to cease to provide all higher education on a permanent basis

4 Definitions of ‘subcontractual’ and ‘validation’ are set out in the glossary of the OfS’s regulatory framework(February 2018), available at: www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/securing-student-successregulatory-framework-for-higher-education-in-england/.
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any material suspected or actual fraud or financial irregularity.

29. In the context of material suspected or actual fraud or financial irregularity, ‘material’ should beunderstood to mean:•any fraud relating to the misuse of public funds•

any other financial fraud exceeding £50,000 in value or 1% of a provider’s annual income ifthat income is less than £5,000,000•

any type of non-financial fraud or attempted fraud regarding which the provider determines
to notify its own governing body.

30. These types of event are likely to have significant implications for a provider’s registration andso need to be reported. Our experience is that they occur infrequently and so this should not
create significant regulatory burden. If a provider needs to report one of these events it should
contact the OfS at regulation@officeforstudents.org.uk or telephone 0117 931 7305 to seek
guidance. We are taking this different approach in the current circumstances because werecognise that it is difficult to anticipate the issues that may arise and normal judgements aboutmateriality are unlikely to properly recognise the extraordinary circumstances in which
providers are operating.
31. In addition, all providers are required to continue to report the following events:•changes to a provider’s accountable officer or the chair of its governing body•changes to the information published on the OfS Register.

32. We need to keep up-to-date records for providers’ senior officers to ensure we are able to send
information to the correct individuals. We expect a provider to tell us if its accountable officer isunable to work due to self-isolation or due to other illness. In these circumstances we will seek
to approve an interim accountable officer. The requirement to tell the OfS about changes to theRegister is a statutory requirement that we are unable to remove. Our experience is thatproviders report changes to the Register infrequently.
33. Reports should be made within five days of the date that the event is identified or, if that is notpossible due to exceptional circumstances beyond the control of the provider, as soon asreasonably practicable thereafter and without undue delay.

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