The government’s plans for risk-based regulation for the higher education sector will encourage more risky and competitive behaviour among institutions, with potentially dire consequences

One of the proposals of the government’s higher education White Paper is to introduce risk-based regulation of institutions, with the goal of reducing bureaucratic burdens and allowing universities to become more entrepreneurial. Roger King argues that while attractive on the surface, these reforms may drive some institutions towards highly risky behaviour, with potentially damaging consequences to the reputation of English universities at home and abroad.