The Office for Students (OfS) is the educational oversight body for providers eligible to register with them. Eligible providers wishing to apply for or maintain Tier 4 sponsor status must register with the OfS. The OfS is also the body for providers requiring specific course designation.

QAA is the educational oversight body only for those providers not eligible to register with the OfS. Educational oversight occurs every four years and, depending on the nature of the provider, we have different review methods we use for this purpose:

• Higher Education Review (Alternative Providers)
• Higher Education Review (Foreign Providers)
• Recognition Scheme for Educational Oversight
• Educational Oversight: Exceptional Arrangements.

Providers are required to submit an Annual Return each year between full reviews and undergo monitoring visits.

Further information about educational oversight is available on the relevant Government website. For providers not eligible to register with the OfS, details about how to apply for a QAA review for educational oversight are available on our Applying for Review page.

Higher Education Review (Alternative Providers) is our main review method for private providers and is used for educational oversight purposes.

Higher Education Review (Foreign Providers) is for overseas higher education providers operating in the UK.

Providers that offer short-term study abroad programmes only will continue to be reviewed using Recognition Scheme for Educational Oversight (RSEO).

Educational Oversight: Exceptional Arrangements is the review method for embedded colleges that do not operate as part of a network. 

As part of the arrangements for maintaining educational oversight, providers not eligible to register with the Office for Students are required to submit an Annual Return each year between reviews and undergo monitoring visits.

Annual monitoring guidance and the annual return form is published here.