The High Court has overruled the UK secretary of state’s decision to prevent a college from being able to access student loan funding.
A judicial review brought by the Oxford Business College has concluded that Bridget Phillipson’s actions in April were “unlawful”.
Citing concerns about “recruitment and attendance” at the college, the minister stepped in to prevent new students from accessing government-backed loans with “immediate effect”, while existing students were given until the 31 August to transfer to courses at partner providers.
After a two-day heating, Mrs Justice Ellenbogen has ruled this decision should be set aside.
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Welcoming the court’s ruling, Padmesh Gupta, the managing director of the Oxford Business College, said it had experienced an “obvious injustice”.
The DfE had investigated the college and Gupta said this concluded “with no findings whatsoever of fraud or criminality” but the department decided to de-designate its courses anyway.
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“This was a wholly unjustified action which has threatened the future of the college and our students,” Gupta continued.
“The DfE ignored all procedural fairness by denying the college leadership a proper opportunity to make a full and informed response to sweeping, unevidenced allegations.
“A cornerstone of any fair process is the right to know the case against you and to be provided with the evidence that supports that case.”
He said the reputation of the college, which offered?degrees in areas such as business, events management and health and social care across five English campuses, had been “severely damaged”.
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“Throughout all its activities, the college upholds the highest standards of integrity, compliance and academic excellence,” Gupta added.
He said it was now time for both sides to “learn from the lessons of the past, review, reform, and strengthen our processes and start the process to rebuild”.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are determined to restore trust in our higher education sector and uphold the reputation of our world class universities.
“We note the decision of the court delivered on 22 August and we are considering our options to protect students and taxpayers.”
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