Government must address ‘weaknesses’ that led to student loan fraud – NAO
The Government must address weaknesses which contributed to fraud and abuse of student loan funding in franchised higher education providers, the spending watchdog has said.
The “inherent risks” associated with using franchised providers – institutions that operate in partnership with registered universities to deliver courses on their behalf – should be considered, the National Audit Office (NAO) urged.
The NAO found that 53% of the £4.1 million fraud detected by the Student Loans Company (SLC) by value was at franchised providers in 2022/23.
The proportion of SLC-detected fraud cases in franchised providers has “increased faster” than the growth in SLC-funded students at those providers since
