The Office for Students (OfS) has launched a consultation, seeking views on application of the OfS’s powers to distribute funding across English universities and colleges. The OfS has allocated £450m of capital funding for the 2022–23 to 2024–25 financial years and seeks views on what it should achieve with funding allocation, factors to consider when making judgements on strategic priorities of certain courses or practice areas, and important provision not currently supported by OfS funding but should be in the future. The OfS is also seeking views on how its funding powers can be used to supposed capital investment, national facilities and specialist higher education providers and its impact. The consultation closes on 23 May 2024.

The Office for Students (OfS) has announced that it will invest £12m in order to increase to the amount of Level 6 degree apprenticeship courses and places available. The money will expand the course offering, increase the number of students on apprenticeships and increase equal opportunity within the apprenticeships.

The Department for Education has reported that the role of the Office for Students (OfS) will be refocused to prioritise the financial stability of the higher education sector and deliver better quality and outcomes for students. It further reports that the government has appointed a new interim chair of the OfS, Sir David Behan. It also informs that the Secretary of State for Education has stopped the implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 and re-affirmed the government’s firm commitment to freedom of speech. Additionally, the OfS plans to introduce strengthened protections for students facing harassment and sexual misconduct. The OfS’ refreshed focus follows the publication of an independent report—Fit for the Future: Higher Education Regulation Towards 2035.

The Office for Students (OfS) Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom, Arif Ahmed, has provided updates on their work to implement the new free speech legislation, The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, and announced a further consultation on the legislation. The Act aims to strengthen legal requirements placed on universities and colleges in relation to free speech and academic freedom. The Act received Royal Assent on 11 May 2023 and is expected to come into force in two phases – later this year and in 2025. The consultation will be launched in the coming weeks.

The Office for Students (OfS) has published an updated financial sustainability report showing that 124 institutions, representing 45% of those analysed, face deficits in 2025-26 without mitigating actions. This represents an increase from 34% in provider forecasts published in May 2025. The report incorporates early student recruitment data showing UK undergraduate acceptances through UCAS grew by 3.1% in 2025, below the sector's forecast growth of 4.1%, while international student recruitment returned to year-on-year growth with a 6.4% increase in Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies issued before the September intake. The OfS modelling projects nearly one in six institutions will have less than 30 days' liquidity. The regulator noted significant variation across the sector, with growth concentrated in larger research-intensive and medium-sized institutions, while many individual providers did not meet recruitment expectations.

UK Communications regulator established by the Communications Act 2003, covering television and radio broadcasts and responsible for representing the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition in the broadcast media and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material via the Broadcasting Code. Ofcom has various wide-ranging powers including the ability to levy financial penalties or force the broadcast of corrections for breaches of the Broadcasting Code.

Ofcom is required under the Communications Act 2003 and the Broadcasting Act 1996 to provide a code for television and radio, covering standards in programmes, sponsorship, product placement in television programmes, fairness and privacy. This code is the Ofcom Broadcasting Code. The Ofcom Broadcasting Code gives effect to a number of requirements relating to television in the European Convention on Transfrontier Television T-TT(2000)008 for those broadcasters which are caught by that Treaty. See the code here.

Ofcom has published its report on Openreach's compliance with the Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review regulations, highlighting areas of concern and improvement. Openreach has failed to meet some QoS standards for 2022/23 but faced no penalties. The report details ongoing issues with Physical Infrastructure Access, including compliance and performance transparency, and the Exchange Exit Programme’s progress. Ofcom continues to engage with stakeholders to address concerns and ensure fair competition.

Ofcom and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) have published a joint statement on collaboration on the regulation of online service. Building on a joint statement published in November 2022, the statement outlines methods by which the two regulators will work together on areas of mutual interest to ensure a solid approach to regulation between the online safety and data protection regimes. This statement takes places in the context of the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum which seeks to combine efforts by Ofcom, the ICO, the Competitions and Markets Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority on areas of mutual importance in regulating online services.

Ofcom and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) have signed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work more closely to tackle online child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Under the agreement, the IWF will share data, insight and expertise to help Ofcom better assess risks and take informed regulatory action to comply with its duties under the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023). The partnership will improve compliance by online services and reduce the amount of illegal content users may encounter online.

Ofcom has reported that the Global Online Safety Regulators Network has published its inaugural Annual Report and Strategic Plan for 2025-2027. The Network, comprising 25 members and observers from six continents, has outlined three key priorities: enhancing regulatory coherence across jurisdictions, bolstering the evidence base for online safety, and promoting information sharing to ensure compliance. Ofcom will maintain its role as Chair of the Network for a second year in 2025, furthering the organisation's commitment to developing global partnerships and contributing to international debates on online safety issues.

Ofcom announced that Snap, Meta and Roblox have committed to introducing stronger anti-grooming measures for children following a public call for action, including stricter default settings for contacts and friendship groups, AI detection tools, direct chat controls and commitments to prioritise child safety upfront before launching new features. Snap plans to block adult strangers from contacting children by default, avoid encouraging children to connect with strangers and introduce enhanced age checks; Roblox plans to expand its anti-grooming protections and allow under-16s to switch off direct chat services; and Meta plans to develop tools to detect sexualised conversations and hide teens’ connection lists. Ofcom has set deadlines for these measures and has also criticised TikTok and YouTube for failing to make recommender feeds safer for children and questioned whether their current minimum age requirements are being effectively enforced.