Fit and Proper Person Checks for Higher Education Providers

The Office for Students (OfS) is seeking a supplier to provide fit and proper person (FPP) check services for higher education providers registering in England. The supplier will conduct checks on key individuals (such as accountable officers, governing body chairs, and company secretaries) during initial registration and on an ongoing basis to ensure compliance with registration conditions. Checks may include: director disqualifications, charity trustee disqualifications, bankruptcy status, unspent criminal convictions, adverse civil procedure findings, disciplinary hearing outcomes, education sector sanctions, misuse of public funds, trading license refusals, Section 199 ECTA 2023 convictions, tax-related criminal offences, insolvency, liquidation, previous bankruptcy, and removal from charity trustee positions. The supplier should design a system that efficiently enables OfS to perform these varied background checks on multiple individuals across different providers, with flexibility to conduct different check types based on individual circumstances.