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PRESS RELEASE : Government crackdown on rogue university franchises [December 2025]

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 9 December 2025.

Education Secretary announces reforms to tighten rules on fraud in the student finance system that cost taxpayers £2m in 2022/23.

Students and taxpayers will have greater confidence in higher education as tough new reforms through our Plan for Change tighten controls on university franchising arrangements and make sure public money is used as intended, shoring up the reputation of our world-class sector.

Franchiser providers with 300 or more students will soon face mandatory regulation by the Office for Students and be required to meet the same standards as universities or be completely cut off from accessing student loan funding in 2028/29.

Franchising allows universities to subcontract teaching to other organisations—such as colleges or private training providers delivering specialist courses like health or business. When done well, it can widen access, however rapid growth and inconsistent oversight that this government inherited have left parts of the system open to abuse.

The government is determined to ensure every student receives high-quality education, with the new measures putting students and their outcomes before profits as regulators could face fines or suspension of their registration if they have concerns about poor-quality provision, financial exploitation, or fraudulent practices.

This poor practice has real consequences for young people’s futures and cost £2 million to the public purse in 2022/23 alone.

As part of the crack down, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will write to all providers setting out the changes and warning that poor-quality or exploitative arrangements must be cleaned up or closed down.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:

Too many rogue operators have treated students as a route to fast cash, not as people investing in their future.

Those days are over. If you use public money, you will be held accountable and face proper scrutiny.

Our higher education sector is one of Britain’s greatest strengths. Through our Plan for Change we are determined to protect its reputation, putting students first and making sure every pound from the public purse is well spent.

The number of students at franchised providers has more than doubled in five years, with nearly sixty percent taught at providers not directly regulated by the Office for Students.

With students on franchised courses currently far more likely to drop out and far less likely to progress into work or further study. Just three-quarters complete their courses – compared with almost nine in ten across the rest of the sector.

These measures will crackdown on courses where there are clear signs of exploitation, such as admitting students who are unlikely to succeed – for example, those with very poor English language skills or students who have low attendance rates and those who are using their place at the provider purely to access public money.

These robust reforms come as the Government publishes the outcomes of its consultation, proposing measures to strengthen oversight of higher education franchising. Regulations to enable the changes to HE franchising will be laid before Parliament in Spring 2026.

These reforms will work alongside tougher OfS registration conditions on management and governance standards, stronger system controls to prevent fraud, and cross-government work led by the Public Sector Fraud Authority.

Measures outlined in the Post-16 White paper to lift quality, shut down poor practice, and tighten controls on public money to ensure a higher education system that provides quality for all students regardless of where they study as part of our Plan for Change.

Vivienne Stern MBE, Chief Executive of Universities UK said:

It is vital that franchise provision is underpinned by high and robust standards and we support this step, which will help to protect the higher education sector’s world-renowned reputation for quality.

UUK’s members have been taking extensive actions to tighten controls, and we have long championed the introduction of measures requiring franchise partners to register with the OfS.

The Office for Students is also strengthening its own regulatory regime for franchising, including tougher initial registration conditions on governance and the management of public money, publishing annual data on outcomes for franchised students, and consulting on new requirements for universities overseeing franchise partnerships.

Office for Students, Director of Regulation, Philippa Pickford said:

Today’s announcement will help ensure students studying under subcontractual arrangements are getting a high quality higher education, as well as giving taxpayers confidence that public funding is being used appropriately.

We have been raising concerns about poor practices that have been exposed in some subcontractual arrangements for some time, and plan to announce a response to our own consultation on subcontractual arrangements in higher education in early 2026.

This summer, we also announced reforms to our registration process that will allow us to register institutions that will deliver high quality higher education and treat their students fairly.

Ministers will also legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to give the OfS stronger powers to act quickly where quality is compromised or public money is at risk, ensuring problems in franchised provision can be dealt with more rapidly in future.

December 10, 2025
PRESS RELEASE : Chancellor kickstarts Britain’s new scale-up surge [December 2025]
The press release issued by HM Treasury on 9 December 2025.

Britain’s leading founders – including CEOs from Huel and Moneybox – head to No10 to celebrate the government’s multi-billion-pound pro-growth business package.
- Comes as the Budget unlocks billions for innovative firms and delivers the biggest shake-up of entrepreneur tax incentives in a generation.
- Alex Depledge to stay on as UK’s first Entrepreneurship Adviser, supercharging Chancellor’s reforms to support scale-ups and deliver the modern Industrial Strategy’s ambition to make Britain one of the best places in world to do business.
The Chancellor welcomed the UK’s top entrepreneurs to No10 Downing Street last night (8 December), celebrating a bold new plan to back homegrown founders and continue making Britain one of the best places in the world to scale a business as part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy.

Founders, investors and innovators from across the UK – including meal-in-a-bottle firm Huel, savings app Moneybox and crime-busting tech company Quantexa – heard the Chancellor’s message loud and clear: economic growth is the government’s number one mission, and Britain’s entrepreneurs will be central to delivering it.

Last night’s reception follows the Budget, which delivered the most ambitious package for scale-ups in more than a decade: sweeping reforms to tax incentives so firms can attract world-class talent and investment, billions in long-term backing for science and technology firms, and changes to public procurement so taxpayer money is used to drive innovation.

That builds on efforts to cut burdensome rules and regulation holding back investment and innovation, with the Chancellor setting out how the government will deliver a 25% cut in the administrative cost of regulation over this Parliament worth £6 billion a year to businesses.

The Chancellor also confirmed that Alex Depledge MBE will continue as her Entrepreneurship Adviser until summer 2026, driving forward reforms to remove the barriers scale-ups face – from accessing finance to navigating complex regulation – so strategically important companies can realise their potential.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said:

This government backs our entrepreneurs. That’s why we’re overhauling the rulebook – modernising tax incentives, unlocking billions in investment and making it easier for founders to hire, build and grow. Because when British businesses thrive, so does our economy.

Alex Depledge MBE said:

High-growth companies power national growth — if we’re serious about expanding the economy, this is the lever to pull. We don’t need handouts; we need a system that backs the people willing to take risks.

This Budget is a real step-change, and I’m genuinely excited to keep working with the Chancellor to clear the obstacles that stop scale-ups from reaching their full potential.

The government is doubling eligibility for key schemes such as the Enterprise Management Incentive  and raising investment limits under the Enterprise Investment Scheme. EMI hasn’t been updated in 15 years – and these changes will help high-growth firms reward teams, attract world-class talent and pull in more early-stage capital, boosting Britain’s competitiveness.

Tom Leathes, CEO and Co-Founder of Motorway.com, said:

The changes to the EMI scheme will make a huge difference. When Motorway hit 250 employees, we suddenly couldn’t offer new joiners the same equity opportunity as our early team. These reforms fix that. Extending option lifespans to 15 years and doubling the employee cap gives UK scale-ups far more firepower to compete for world-class talent much longer into the journey.

People who join scaling companies take a bet – and when it works, they should share in what they helped build. This is exactly the kind of policy that helps British companies scale and succeed for the long term.

Joshua Western, CEO and Co-Founder of Space Forge, said:

As a European advanced materials company, focused on providing a sovereign, secure and sustainable supply of semiconductor materials to the continent, Space Forge is pleased to be involved with boosting British entrepreneurship.

It is more important than ever to support entrepreneurship to deliver capability and growth and Space Forge is proud to be a part of that story across the European continent. The entrepreneurship budget announcements by the Chancellor are an important step in recognising the growth engine that start-ups are for the economy.

Alongside this, the government has launched an in-depth conversation with founders and investors about how the tax system supports entrepreneurs, ensuring it rewards people who take risks, reinvest in their businesses and create jobs. This work sits alongside the Entrepreneurship Prospectus, setting out a long-term plan to make the UK the easiest place to start and scale a business.

A £7 billion injection into UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) will help the UK’s most promising companies push breakthroughs from lab to market, while targeted programmes ensure high-growth firms can access the scale-up capital they need without leaving the UK.

A new £130 million Growth Catalyst from Innovate UK will deliver grants and hands-on support to cutting-edge science and tech firms. A previous version of this programme turned £156m of grants into £1.55bn of follow-on investment – a tenfold return.

Meanwhile, the British Business Banks will invest £5 billion in growing companies, crowding in billions more private capital and supporting firms through the risky “Valley of Death” stage so they can scale, hire and export from British soil.
December 10, 2025
NEWS STORY : UK Sanctions China-based Cyber Firms after Global Hacking Campaign

STORY

The UK Government has announced sanctions against two Chinese technology companies after investigators linked them to widespread and indiscriminate cyber-attacks targeting Government systems, the private sector and critical infrastructure across multiple countries. The firms, Sichuan Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd, also known as i-Soon, and Integrity Technology Group Incorporated, are accused of operating as part of a broader ecosystem that enables hostile cyber activity.

Officials said i-Soon had carried out attacks on more than 80 IT systems worldwide and supported other malicious actors, while Integrity Tech allegedly operated covert cyber-infrastructure used to target UK public sector networks. The Government described the companies’ work as reckless and irresponsible, warning that it reflects a growing industry of private contractors inside China who offer tools, data and services that can be exploited for state-linked operations.

December 10, 2025
PRESS RELEASE : UK clamps down on China-based companies for reckless and irresponsible activity in cyberspace [December 2025]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 9 December 2025.

Two tech companies based in China have been sanctioned for reckless and indiscriminate cyberattacks.
- UK exposes two China-based companies that have carried out cyberattacks against the UK and its allies
- New sanctions clamp down on attempts to undermine UK security and prosperity
- Sanctioned businesses had launched global cyberattacks against over 80 government and private industry IT systems
Two tech companies based in China have been sanctioned today [Tuesday 9 December] for reckless and indiscriminate cyberattacks:
- Sichuan Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd (known as i-Soon) for targeting over 80 government and private industry IT systems across the world, and for supporting others planning to carry out malicious cyber activity.
- Integrity Technology Group Incorporated (known as Integrity Tech) for controlling and managing a covert cyber network and providing technical assistance for others to carry out cyberattacks. Targets have included UK public sector IT systems.
I-Soon and Integrity Tech are examples of the threat posed by the cyber industry in China, which includes information security companies, data brokers (that collect and sell personal data), and ‘hackers for hire’. Some of these companies provide cyber services to the Chinese intelligence services.

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) assesses that it is almost certain that this ‘ecosystem’ or complex network of private sector actors, supports Chinese state-linked cyber operations.

The announcement follows the August 2025 exposure by the UK and international partners of three China-based companies linked to the cyber-espionage campaign known as SALT TYPHOON. Combined, they highlight the vast scale of cyberattacks by China-based companies targeting governments, telecommunications, military institutions, and public services worldwide.

These cyberattacks from unrestrained actors in China go against agreed UN cyber principles. The measures announced today are designed to reduce the risk of such threats to the UK’s security and broader international stability.

As the Prime Minister set out recently in a speech at the Guildhall, protecting our security is non-negotiable and the first duty of the government. The UK recognises that China poses a series of threats to UK national security. China is also a fellow permanent member of the UN Security Council, the world’s second largest economy and a nuclear power which has delivered almost a third of global economic growth over the past decade. We challenge threats robustly, enabling us to pursue cooperation where it is in our interest.

Notes to Editors
- In August 2025, the UK alongside 12 other countries co-sealed a cyber security advisory linking China-based technology companies to some of the activities associated with a China state-affiliated APT group (commonly known as SALT TYPHOON). These companies are: Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology Co. Ltd, Beijing Huanyu Tianqiong Information Technology Co., and Sichuan Zhixin Ruije Network Technology Co. Ltd.
- This activity targeted governments, telecommunications, transportation, and military infrastructure globally, and sought to provide Chinese intelligence services with the capability to identify and track targets’ communications and movements worldwide.
- Together with France, the UK continues to lead the Pall Mall Process, an international initiative which seeks to establish a framework for responsible behaviour for those involved in the rapidly growing market in commercial cyber intrusion capabilities.
- The UK has consistently promoted the UN normative framework for responsible state behaviour in cyberspace. The UK remains the first and only country to publish guidelines for its National Cyber Force detailing the principles that we adhere to. We firmly believe that states should use cyber capabilities in a responsible manner, whether commercial or otherwise.
December 10, 2025
NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 9 December 1925

9 DECEMBER 1925

The Bill confirming the Irish agreement was approved by the House of Commons.

The Government of India (Civil Services) Bill, which had passed the House of Lords, was read a second time in the Commons. A money resolution under the Land Settlement Facilities Act, 1919, was agreed to, fulfilling, it was explained, a promise made to Local Authorities that the State would hand over to them small holdings which were bought for the settlement of ex-Service men, on a self-supporting basis.

The Rating and Valuation Bill passed second reading in the House of Lords.

An “agreed” document on the question of rural land policy was issued by the Liberal and Radical Candidates’ Association. Mr Lloyd George expressed satisfaction with the scheme.

Lord Oxford, speaking at Liverpool, said if he had to try to condense into three words the policy of the present Government in regard to the coal industry, he did not think it could have been expressed in more concentrated and accurate form than “wait and see.”

Mr Ramsay MacDonald, touring his constituency, told his hearers that peace in Ireland would be cheap at the price of a million or two.

The costliness of the present system of transport was brought out at the sitting of the Coal Commission by a witness. The private ownership of waggons was a survival of the early days of the railway, and one for which no parallel could be found in any other country.

Details are now available of the disaster at Fenny Stratford level crossing, in which a charabanc that had crashed through the crossing gates was struck by a train. A survivor gives a graphic story of her terrifying experience, while the signalman on duty near the scene tells what he saw. Seven people are dead, and five are in a critical condition.

A Geneva telegram states that the Council of the League unanimously adopted the Hague Court’s advisory opinion regarding the procedure to be followed in deciding the Mosul question.

According to a Teheran correspondent, a secret agreement is being negotiated between Turkey and Russia.

December 10, 2025
NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 8 December 1925

8 DECEMBER 1925

The safeguarding of industry resolutions embodying the 33⅓ per cent customs duties on imported cutlery and gloves passed report stage in the House of Commons.

Lord Oxford, addressing the Liberal and Radical Candidates’ Association, counselled them as to reaching an agreed land policy which they could place before the country. Twelve years ago the party had hoped to bring to a climax a series of reforms by a drastic reform of the land system. War had intervened. It now lay with them to reach unity on an agreed policy, but one which would avoid risky, dubious, uncertain expedients.

The text of the new Irish Bill to give effect to the agreement reached on the Irish boundary question has been issued. It consists of only two clauses.

Addressing the members of the London Irish Club, Lord Derby expressed the hope that the unhappy time of Ireland was past.

In the Dail President Cosgrave, in moving the second reading of the Bill giving effect to the recent Irish Boundary settlement, expressed the view that it would mean the turning point in Irish history.

The Government are asking a further £9,000,000 for the coal mining industry subvention, making £19,000,000 in all. A memorandum explains how the scheme is working.

Major J. W. Hills (Unionist) was elected by a majority of 5011 for the Ripon Division in the vacancy caused by the appointment of Mr E. F. L. Wood as Viceroy of India. There had been no contest in the division since 1910, and women electors voted for the first time.

December 10, 2025
NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 7 December 1925

7 DECEMBER 1925

Sir Austen Chamberlain and Mr Amery have arrived in Geneva for the meeting of the League Council. The most urgent matters on the agenda are the Graeco Bulgarian frontier dispute and the Mosul question.

The German Cabinet has resigned, a step which Dr Luther, the Chancellor, had stated would be taken after the signature of the Locarno Treaties. President von Hindenburg has accepted the Government’s resignation, and has requested the Chancellor to conduct the country’s affairs until a new Cabinet has been formed.

In his annual report to President Coolidge, Mr Dwight F. Davis, the United States Secretary of War, declares that the present strength of the Army is inadequate and an increase in personnel necessary. Stress is laid on the strategic importance of the Panama Canal, and a ten years’ programme for the increase of its defenders is foreshadowed, as is also a programme for the defence of Oahu.

Mr Lloyd George addressed a meeting at Coventry upon his land proposals, and said they were not submitted as tables of the law immutable. He was sanguine that at the Liberal Conference today and tomorrow complete agreement would be reached which would permit of the submission of proposals representing the whole body of Liberal opinion in the country. The task of liberation which he was asking the Liberal Party to undertake would do its health good; there was nothing like hard work for curing megrims and tantrums.

Mr de Valera denounces the Irish agreement, accuses Britain of cheating, and adds that now that Irishmen have been found prepared to put their hand to an instrument dismembering the country, his only hope is that the people will not consent to it. Sir James Craig, the North of Ireland Premier, had a great reception at Belfast, and said he hoped that the new agreement might have a lasting effect for the good of all Ireland, Great Britain and the Empire.

Mr A. J. Cook, secretary of the Miners’ Federation, speaking in the Durham coalfields, said we would be face to face during the next twelve months with the greatest economic crisis this country had ever known, a crisis that was going to have great political consequences.

The Executive Council of the Shale Miners’ and Oilworkers’ Association, at a meeting at Bathgate, agreed to recommend acceptance of the new terms of settlement in the shale mines crisis.

December 10, 2025
NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 6 December 1925

6 DECEMBER 1925

It was reported that residents of Tarbrax, a remote village in Lanarkshire, were facing starvation. 400 people marched to Carnwath in the hope of receiving some poor relief.

There was hope of a strike settlement between the employers and the Executive Council of the National Union of Shale Miners and Oilworkers.

The entire German Cabinet resigned, with Dr Luther charged with seeking to form a new one.

December 10, 2025
NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 5 December 1925

5 DECEMBER 1925

Opinion in Ireland is divided on the Irish boundary settlement. Belfast accepts it with a feeling of relief, Londonderry is disappointed, and Dublin criticises it as not a good bargain from an Irish point of view.

The Prime Minister stated in the House of Commons that he had decided to postpone the fourth safeguarding resolution, that dealing with paper, for this session owing to the shortness of time remaining available for business, and to allow time for the Irish Bill.

The Rating and Valuation Bill passed third reading in the House of Commons, and the House of Lords at a formal sitting gave it a first reading.

The Roads and Streets in Police Burghs (Scotland) Bill and the Circuit Courts and Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Bill were read a third time in the House of Commons.

Professor Charles Sarolea, in an article entitled “France’s Ordeal: Battle of the Franc,” emphasises the dangers involved in a collapse of the French currency.

Proposals for the future organisation of the broadcasting service were submitted to Lord Crawford’s Committee by Sir Arthur Stanley, Professor A. M. Low, and Mr D. S. Richards, on behalf of the Wireless League. These included the forming of a representative commission to be in supreme control, and the devoting of all the revenue, less a deduction to the Post Office for collection, to improvements. Plans for the detection and punishment of “oscillators” were also mentioned.

At a sitting of the Coal Commission in London Mr Markham, an owner, alleged that miners spent 8s. to 10s. a week on cinemas.

December 10, 2025
NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 4 December 1925

Complete agreement was reached in the Irish boundary crisis. The settlement provides for the retention of the present boundary and for financial adjustments.

The Tithe Bill was read a second time and the Expiring Laws Bill a third time in the House of Lords.

Safeguarding resolutions imposing duties on imported fabric gloves, fur and leather gloves, and imported gas mantles were passed by the House of Commons in Committee of Ways and Means.

During an all night sitting on the duty for the safeguarding of the cutlery industry, the Socialist party, in its anxiety to obstruct the Government, unwittingly plunged the House of Commons into the first secret session since the outbreak of war in August 1914.

The Spanish Military Directory has resigned, and has been replaced by a civilian Cabinet. The King, in a message to General Primo de Rivera, the Prime Minister, says he trusts that within a reasonable period, which His Majesty hopes will be brief, the country will have constitutional laws of a normal character.

The French Chamber, after an all night sitting, passed M. Loucheur’s Finance Bill as a whole by 257 votes to 229. Fifty two Socialists abstained from voting, and this saved the Briand Government.

December 10, 2025