Who we are

The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education in England – we regulate higher education on behalf of all students. Our mission is to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling higher education experience that enriches their life and career.

We do exciting work that drives change for students.  As we embark on our ambitious new strategy, focusing on quality and standards, and equality of opportunity, this is an exciting time to join. We’re looking for aspiring regulators who want to use their skills to support the next phase of regulation in these areas. 

What we do

The regulation directorate’s primary function is to develop and implement the OfS’s regulatory framework. We design and deliver high quality services for market entry, degree awarding powers and university title, and are responsible for the ongoing monitoring of registered providers.

We implement the OfS’s new approach to regulating quality and standards, including the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework. We also work to promote fair access to, and participation in, English higher education for students, no matter what their background. We regulate access and participation plans, and deliver funded programmes such as Uni Connect.

What you’ll do

You’ll work across the regulation directorate on several projects, gaining a whole breadth of experience. As a Senior Officer, you may

• Register new higher education providers wanting to enter the sector
• Assess providers’ plans to improve access and participation among underrepresented groups
• Deliver funded programmes such as Uni Connect
• Investigate and assess compliance with our conditions of registration and intervene in the interest of students
• Develop and implement policy reforms to improve quality and standards and equality of opportunity
• Improve our systems that deliver services to providers

What you’ll need

These are the skills you’ll already have:

• Ideally, you have some knowledge of the regulatory context for the OfS’s work and have an understanding of the regulatory decision-making processes
• You’re committed to protecting students’ interests
• You can write complex strategic and operational details clearly and concisely, using appropriate grammar, style and language
• You can plan and manage your own workload, resolving competing demands and coping with changing priorities in a flexible and proactive way
• You can build positive working relationships, working with people at all levels

Career Opportunities

Our flexible resourcing model enables us to be responsive and agile in how we resource our work, allocating people to priorities. You will have the flexibility to move between areas of responsibility, as you develop your regulatory knowledge, experience and expertise.

Benefits

Our Total Reward Framework offers a range of benefits to suit your way of life:

• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays
• Comprehensive learning and development – we’re invested in your future
• Generous Civil Service pension scheme
• Health-related benefits

Diversity and inclusion

We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do. We recruit based on fair and open competition and welcome applications from candidates regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic background.

Working arrangements

We love working flexibly because we know that it helps us all to do our best work. We’ve created a set of principles to shape our approach to flexible and hybrid working, which our teams then use as guidance on how they deliver their business goals. This would usually mean working from the office for two or three days in a typical week. 

To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working, for example job share and part-time working, apply to these roles.