HEFCE, GuildHE, the Association of Colleges, the National Union of Students, Study UK, the Independent Universities Group and Universities UK announce the publication of the jointly developed Statement of Good Practice on higher education course changes and closures.

The statement brings together good practice on how higher education providers need to work with their students when courses change or close, offering them alternative courses or arranging transfers where appropriate.

The statement was developed by these organisations as a follow-up to a series of roundtable meetings with representatives from the higher education sector, including students and all types of providers, in autumn 2014. One of the conclusions of the roundtables was that it would be helpful to have a clearer outline of the protections already offered to students by higher education providers.

Protections for students affected by changes and closures should already exist, and be outlined clearly by providers, but the general approach to be followed has never before been explicitly outlined in this way. The recent Green Paper ‘Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice’ has highlighted more strongly than ever the need for student protection, and the statement is intended to give higher education providers a yardstick to measure their practice in this area.

Notes:

1. The Statement of Good Practice on course changes and closures can be found here Statement of good practice Nov15. It was developed by a working group of representatives of HEFCE, GuildHE, the Association of Colleges, the National Union of Students, Study UK and the Independent Universities Group.
2. The Green Paper ‘Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice’ is online at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/higher-education-teaching-excellence-social-mobility-and-student-choice and outlines the requirement for student protection.