iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

The inshore boat just went out, so popped along to donate. The RNLI are the best of us.

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

But, if only the OfS had been explaining the TEF in ‘poetry’ all along, then maybe we’d been keener? Who wouldn’t be moved by the notion of keeping quality and stirring excellence? (OfS AI Helper September 2026)

In the bright first line, we frame the guard.
A baseline for all, where standards rest;
Yet TEF, beyond that floor, may raise the yard,
And show where teaching blooms at its best.
We measure continuation, completion, And progression into work or further study;
We pair those with student experience, So evidence is steady, fair, and sturdy
Not every provider must join the race;
Some do so because the guidance requires, Others may choose the path, and seek that grace
To sharpen practice, lifting their own aims and fires
Thus quality is kept, and excellence stirred:
A system for students, clear, measured, and heard.

The Camborne School of Mines was operated as an educational charity with a Board of Governors whilst it was an independent college from 1893, including when was being run under either Cornwall County ...

Camborne joined Exeter in 1994. Interesting to note that the Charity Commission’s view was that the charitable objectives were sufficiently dissimilar that it could not merge. The CSM Trust continues, having transferred operations to Exeter University. csmtrust.org.uk/about/our-hi...

csmtrust.org.uk

Our History

In early 1990s they were trying to find a partner - a proposal was floated for a merger with Leeds (who had one of the last mining departments). It did not get far.

School of Mines failed to get a link with a university to offer degrees, only an exemption from exams at Manchester. It joined CNAA in 1974, but at the end of the binary line in 1992 it could not get its own powers. (Short history of the School, 1974)

A short history of the Camborne School of Mines

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The Royal School of Mines was its competitor.

Former sites of HEIs: a series. Camborne School of Mines, founded in 1888 and amalgamated with Penzance and Redruth mining schools in 1910. It moved from this site to Pool in 1975, merged with Exeter in 1993 and moved to Penryn in 2004. Only this building (a former WMC acquired in 1935) remains.

The Josiah Thomas memorial wing: the history says:

By July 1934 the promises of support were so numerous that it was decided to raise the appeal target to €20,000*62. The end of the year saw over £13,000 on the books* 63, and early in 1935 the Tehidy Working Men's Club was purchased outright for modification to the School's needs. Located so near to the School that it was a simple matter to link the two buildings together, it was relatively easy to convert the Club premises into what was to be designated the "Josiah Thomas Memorial Wing". The cost of the conversion was also less than that of a new building, leaving a larger sum available for equipment. By December 1937 the appeal had virtually closed; there had been 231 donors who had given a total of £18,411.19s.2d. *64. Nearly €6,000 had been spent on the new premises and over £7,000 on equipment and improvements to the Students Club.

College Street - a remnant of the former Camborne School of Mines

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The student protection gap is about more than providers

More on the economics of student accommodation- traded as commodities to realise income, the people buying blocks seem unaware of their duties. Exempting PBSAs from regulation as if they were halls owned by charities is a problem. More forensic work by Jim Dickinson: wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...

wonkhe.com

There’s a piece in the Guardian on collapsing providers of high-end student accommodation.

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

From sovereign wealth funds to individual investors, people have been sold student accommodation as a guaranteed investment income. Except, even with a “concierge and a shared games lounge with a pool table”, there’s no guarantee of students. The economics don’t add up in some cities.

Advert to buy student student accommodation to get assured returns.

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Have added a postscript to this blog on the way that the OfS register represents mergers - as this is not the best way. moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2026/09/01/r...

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Three weeks ago the new OfS AI helper could be prompted to explain parts of the regulatory framework in ‘poetry’. It also gave wrong answers to simple questions about providers. Now the replies are better and looks like it’s been told not to try verse. moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2026/09/14/a...

Ai helper
Q: explain the TEF in a limerick
A: we’re not able to provide that in verse. In plain English

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The US military announces cadet forces at five universities, two of which are private and distinctly conservative & Christian in ethos - contrasted with ‘woke factories’. Also explains new Office of Religious Affairs remit. www.war.gov/News/News-St...

war.gov

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

OfS Register News: a merger. The College of Integrated Chinese Medicine was removed from the register on 2 October after its merger with Health Sciences University on 1 August. CICM’s campus becomes HSU Reading - HSU had already been validating the BSc in Acupuncture.

Register web page - CICM no longer registered with the OfS.

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

OfS Register News: a merger. Kent was removed from the register on 30 September after its merger on 1 August. Would be useful to have trading names listed as now neither Greenwich or Kent appear in the register search function. moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2026/09/01/r...

Register page - LASEUG but no trading names listed.

Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Confirmation of OfS Register News: the Institute for Optimum Nutrition is ‘Approved’ with no fee limit.

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Once again, the English are demonstrating what Howard Newby once noted was their genius for turning diversity into hierarchy. David Mba and Julie Farrell on how we should avoid using ‘prestige’ as a proxy for delivering value. wonkhe.com/blogs/lets-n...

wonkhe.com

Let’s not confuse institutional prestige with national priority

We should fund higher education based on the needs of the country, not league table placings, say David Mba and Julie Farrell

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Street party today, it’s 95% a community activity and 5% a traffic management activity. Amazing how grumpy some people are that they can’t drive through a bunch of people. Big thanks to @oxfordcitycouncil.bsky.social for facilitating

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Meanwhile, there are signs that the OfS #AI helper has either learnt (or been given instructions) not to write ‘poetry’. Two weeks ago it would happily write a limerick about the TEF (or all sorts of things), now it refuses.

The OfS chatbot answering the request: describe the TEF in a limerick

There once was a TEF in our view,
That helped show what teaching can do;
It guides choice and growth,
For providers and both
Students seeking the best place to go.

The AI bot refuses to write a limerick today.

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

It’s commendable that OfS has introduced an #AI helper to explain its regulatory functions. Except it gets things wrong. I have updated this blog after writing to them to point this out; OfS will monitor any issues with the chatbot’s answers. moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2026/09/14/a...

moremeansbetter.wordpress.com

A warning for students about AI from the OfS

The OfS has a new AI Helper. It helps to show that AI can be wrong. Also it writes limericks.

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Curiously, the page with the link to the assessment report on the new provider has gone (although the report is still there). The AI helper thinks it is registered, but it’s still not in the versions of the register.

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

OfS Register News: one new provider. The Institute of Optimum Nutrition teaches a BSc in Nutritional Therapy awarded by Portsmouth University. The assessment was undertaken earlier this year. Although an email announces the publication, the actual register hasn’t been updated yet.

Screenshot of email :
The Institute for Optimum Nutrition registers with the OfS

We’ve published an assessment report into the quality and standards of courses at The Institute for Optimum Nutrition, which applied for registration and is now registered with us.

The report sets out the assessment team’s judgement about whether the provider meets the requirements in our initial conditions of registration B7 (quality) and B8 (standards).

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

On it’s own, the application says that it relies on the same transport infrastructure, but the impact of another restaurant with no car parking outside it may lead to more pavement parking or parking in the bus stop. Hoping that this works better than at KFC.

Three mopeds parked on the pavement - delivery riders collecting from KFC. Behind is a car parked on the pavement - presumably a customer.

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The combined total current assets of 194 UK HE providers were £2.499 billion (HESA balance sheet data 24/25).

Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

But, also the state providing endowments to ensure that the newly merged college could thrive. Trinity’s net assets were £2.563 billion in 2025.

Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The OfS AI helper needs to stop giving regulatory information until it can be correct. Asking whether X’s application for registration was refused gets the clear answer: “No. X Is shown on the OfS Register as ‘Registered’, not as a refused application” X’s application was refused

Screen shot about Harrow International college’s application and the chat bot’s responses.

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Reposted by Mike Ratcliffe

The Burgon Society @burgonsociety.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Find out more about the Burgon Society at our annual Congregation on 11 October, when we induct new Fellows and hear reports on recent research. The latest Transactions will be available too. Join us at St Mary’s University, in Twickenham. burgon.org.uk/events

Schedule for the day’s Congregation of the Burgon Society.

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

This isn’t the main issue, but the Times leader writers are shocked that “the number of universities and colleges in Britain has jumped from 160 to 304.” Don’t tell them, but there are 425 registered HE providers in England alone. www.thetimes.com/comment/the-...

thetimes.com

Tuition fee system is badly in need of simplification and reform

Allowing universities to charge more would fix a bloated higher education sector

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The Sunday Times university ranking punctures the notion that the club of ‘leading’ universities are the ‘best’, especially this highest fallers graphic.

Southampton falls 45 places to 121. Perhaps this isn’t actually Southampton but actually Southampton Solent?

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

There are some signs that the OfS AI Helper might be getting better at answering questions. However checking a simple regulatory question still turns up a wrong answer. While Ruskin is a trading name of UWL, it hasn’t been on the register for 4 years.

Screenshot contrasting the bot saying that Ruskin is registered with the webpage entry that says it’s not.

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moremeansbetter.wordpress.com

Brit College may be one of the worst regulatory cases OfS has published. Yet the AI helper finds info that it is ‘approved’ from old pages and doesn’t find those on its removal from the register. The bot has a caveat that you should verify its info… moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2026/09/14/a...

A warning for students about AI from the OfS

The OfS has a new AI Helper. It helps to show that AI can be wrong. Also it writes limericks.

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The ‘statement of affairs’ published last month shows that Brit College had liabilities of £4.9 million, including £3.5 million owed to HMRC. If former students are on the creditor list, they won’t get any money from the liquidators. find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/0586...

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Student protection - PI112501

Brit College refused to comply with the recommendations of the OIA to offer compensation and tuition fee refunds. As OIA notes this highlights a gap in student protection. In their updated FAQs, OIA notes the college has gone into liquidation in 2026. www.oiahe.org.uk/resources-an...

oiahe.org.uk

This case summary about Brit College illustrates the impact on individual students where there is a gap in student protection.

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Regulatory case report for Brit College - Office for Students

The OfS does much of its regulation in private, but it published a summary of the investigation into Brit College. OfS had serious concerns about quality, standards and governance. The College would have been removed from the register. www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications...

officeforstudents.org.uk

This regulatory case report summarises concerns we found during an investigation into Brit College and its Diplomat in Education and Training course.

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10 days ago a button “Ask us anything” appeared on the OfS website. The AI helper will write you a poem about the TEF, but it will also tell you that Brit College is ‘approved’. This is despite there being pages about that college’s de-designation, de-registration and non-compliance.

Screenshot of OfS website. The bot (on the right) says:

Brit College is on the OfS register as an approved provider, but the information available here does not show a TEF rating or any wider quality judgement for it, so we cannot say from this source alone whether it is ‘good'. The most we can verify here is that a provider named 'Brit College' appears in our official statistics dataset as 'Approved' with 1,304 students recorded in 2024-25.
If you are asking whether it is a good choice

But in the background is the page that says it’s been de designated by DfE.

Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Planning permission has been granted to demolish the “unattractive, poor quality, bulky former laboratories” - the heritage statement noting the only features of interest are panels on the outside. These UGC funded buildings will be replaced with houses.

Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The former agricultural college’s main building is now fully converted into housing which is up for sale. Prices range from £395k to £895k if you fancy living in a former college of the University of London.

THE FOUNTAIN IN THIS GARDEN WAS GIVEN IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF MALCOLM DUNSTAN PRINCIPAL OF WYE COLLEGE
19@2-1922
AND OF EDITH DUNSTAN
HIS WIFE
FOR THOSE TWENTY YEARS
THEY DEVOTED THEIR LIVES TO WYE AND

Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Former sites of HEIs: a series. Wye College. In 1892 Kent and Surrey county councils obtained former school premises, opening the South Eastern Agricultural College. Wye College became a School of the University of London, merged with Imperial in 2000 but closed in 2009. Now converted into housing.

Wye College - plaques say both University of London and Imperial College

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Evidence that the OfS AI helper might be getting better (ie learning). It now notices that Spurgeon’s College has left the register, but not that it closed (that is on the OfS website) or that it had DAPs when it did (also on the website).

The DAPs order that Spurgeon’s college was awarded a month before it went into administration

Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I wouldn’t want to deprive anyone of the chance to ask the OfS AI helper to write sonnets about data futures, before it learns that that’s not what it was supposed to do.

Screenshot (although put into word as the dialogue box on the website doesn’t handle a lot of text well).

We count the data, clean the flow, and set the line, So higher education can speak with one clear voice;
From forms and fields we shape what must align, And lessen burden while still preserving choice.
Data Futures makes the record live and whole, A shared design for timely, trusted art;
It helps providers send each set in role, And gives our regulation firmer part.
We seek one rhythm through the data stream, Less duplication, clearer use, and tairer pace;
So students interests stay the guiding theme, With accurate information in its place.
For more on the programme, see our Data Futures programme and our Data Futures: Independent review (on our publications page).

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

An improvement: the AI helper now can’t find an entry for British Institute of Technology (it should search the refused registration page). So it doesn’t have evidence that it is registered (which it claimed an hour ago). Not sure what it means about these providers being ‘nearby’.

Another screenshot- British Institute of Technology is still refused but app now says;
“We could not find a matching entry for 'British Institute of Technology Ltd' in the OfS register results we searched. We can confirm that nearby providers such as "London School of Academics Ltd' and 'The College of Health Ltd' do appear in the register, but not 'British Institute of Technology Ltd. Based on the register material returned here, we do not currently have evidence that it is a registered provider.”

Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It looks like the OfS AI helper may be getting better at handling regulatory questions. Earlier today, the bot found that the British Institute of Technology is registered (but gave another provider’s UKPRN). It is not registered but was refused (not satisfying C3, D & E2) - this is a problem.

The refused registration decisions page showing British Institute of Technology’s refusal- but the chat bot thinks it’s registered and provides its UKPRN (actually its 10000920 not 10042679) 10042679 is International Business College Manchester

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Apart from the sonnets about the TEF, the best thing about the OfS AI Helper is that is goes and counts how many providers are registered (425) and ignores the page that says there are 428 (which is wrong).

Screenshot of the OfS website with the chatbot giving the correct information while the manually updated webpage is wrong.

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Mike Ratcliffe @mike-rat.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

There’s a lot of news about #AI regulation, but what about the use of AI in higher education regulation? The OfS has a new ‘AI Helper’ on its website. It is a great example of why you need to check and verify the things a chatbot tells you. moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2026/09/14/a...

moremeansbetter.wordpress.com

A warning for students about AI from the OfS

The OfS has a new AI Helper. It helps to show that AI can be wrong. Also it writes limericks.