Office for Students

Our Chief Executive, Susan Lapworth, and Director for Free of Speech and Academic Freedom, Arif Ahmed, have been hitting the newsstands in recent weeks. Catch up on their interviews and find out more about what we're doing to protect the interests of students as the sector faces financial challenges and navigates contentious issues in the classroom. Universities Watchdog Braces For "Cold Spots" As Courses Get Cut To Save Money - PoliticsHome https://bit.ly/3DOcZSe Stimulate debate on contentious topics, expert urges English universities - The Guardian https://bit.ly/43Ilt7Z Universities must put academic freedom above commercial interests, says free speech tsar - The Telegraph https://bit.ly/4kNQVrF

The #NSS gathers students’ views of their courses to inform the choices of future students. It’s important that students can give their honest view, without being made to respond in a certain way. See our guide on how to promote the survey: https://lnkd.in/eAJCpKXf

Are you a social work student or a person with lived experience of social work? You can use your voice to contribute to our work. We are now welcoming applications for our National Advisory Forum. The role of the forum is to act as a critical friend to Social Work England, providing expert advice, support and challenge to our work and how we achieve our objectives. Members bring a wealth of lived and learned experience to our regulation. We are currently looking to recruit students with more than one year of study remaining. This is open to all qualifying routes such as undergraduate, postgraduate, fast track and apprenticeships. We are also looking for people with lived experience of social work to become members of our National Advisory Forum. This can include (but is not limited to): - care leavers - adoptive parents - carers - those who have been supported by children and families social work or adults social work including mental health, physical heath or learning disabilities. Tiegan is a current member of our National Advisory Forum. Register your interest: https://lnkd.in/dzxcm8mF #socialwork #socialworkstudent #socialworkstudents #socialworker

Are you a student representative keen to use evidence and data to support your priorities with your uni or college to better understand the outcomes and experiences students receive from higher education? Our guide has tips and advice for collecting evidence to support your work. Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/eNbAm3Fm

Earlier this week, our Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom, Arif Ahmed, spoke to The Guardian and The Telegraph about how universities and colleges could support students to feel more comfortable when discussing controversial topics in the classroom. Hit the links below to find out more: The Guardian: https://bit.ly/43Ilt7Z The Telegraph: https://bit.ly/4kNQVrF

Today marks #UniMentalHealthDay We want all students to have the good mental health and wellbeing they need to thrive in their higher education. Our regulation, resources and programmes help universities and colleges and their partners to support this. Students can find out more about what we do and where to get support and advice here: https://bit.ly/3XPSEmm

WE'RE HIRING: We're looking for new Senior Legal Advisers to join our team and help us to regulate higher education on behalf of all students.   Based in either Bristol or London, you'll lead on the provision of legal advice and support for a broad range of legal matters relevant to the functions of the OfS and its internal corporate activities.   You'll need significant legal experience dealing with many legal practice areas as well as the ability to work collaboratively with a range of external stakeholders.   To find out more and apply, head to: https://bit.ly/3DBXLQg   Applications close Monday 17 March 2025.

Our chief executive, Susan Lapworth, sat down for an interview with PoliticsHome, where she discussed the financial health of the higher education sector, subject 'cold spots', and geopolitical pressures. Head to Politics Home to see what she had to say: https://bit.ly/3DOcZSe

A journey to space via sunny South Kensington… 🚀 Last week, our Director of Regulation Philippa Pickford paid a visit to Imperial College London. She was joined by Ella Ferris, who works in the team that looks after the universities and colleges on our register. They got to see how students are using video game-style techniques to explore space and watched as they put meteorites (including a literal chunk of the moon) under the microscope. Next up was a meeting with student representatives and university staff to discuss the student experience - and while we'll never be able to claim space exploration among our endeavours, we also explained some of the important things we do for students at the OfS.

Last week, our Director for Fair Access and Participation, John Blake, spoke at the Association of Colleges (AOC) Higher Education Conference. Recognizing the critical role they play in the English higher education landscape, he outlined some of the ways we plan to better engage with colleges as we navigate a changing sector. Read the full speech here: https://bit.ly/41EXsfo