OfS threatens action on spelling and grammar standards

England’s higher education regulator has promised to take action against any institution that disregards poor spelling and grammar when assessing students. 

The Office for Students said that all learners in higher education should be assessed on spelling, punctuation and grammar in order “to maintain quality and protect standards” and that, from October 2022, it would be taking action against any institution not doing so.

The regulator set out its latest requirements in a report, published on 7 October, following a review of assessment practices with “common themes that gave it regulatory concern”.

The OfS decided to investigate after “reports in the press” that some UK providers had implemented policies that caused them to disregard poor spelling and grammar to be more inclusive.  

The Mail on Sunday reported earlier this year that some institutions were not insisting on strong written English because it could disadvantage students for whom English was a second language or came from poorly performing schools.

However, according to the OfS, “accurate and effective spelling, punctuation and grammar matter from an academic perspective” and were necessary for effective communication when graduates reach employment.

“We take the view that, if students are able to achieve qualifications with poor written English because it is not assessed, those qualifications are unlikely to have the value taxpayers and employers would expect”, the report says.

The regulator adds that if an institution was not assessing in the correct way it could lead to wider concerns about standards, such as whether its courses were high quality or if it was letting in students who were unlikely to succeed on the course or beyond.

This meant that the issue falls within the regulator’s conditions of registration, allowing it to intervene, the report says. The regulator has the power to fine institutions or ultimately remove a provider from its register, barring it from accessing student loan funding.

The review used several institutions as case studies and found one policy stating that technical proficiency in written English should only be assessed if it has been identified as a learning outcome for a module or course, while another says markers are required to ignore weaknesses in English writing if language is not a learning outcome.

These sorts of policies are “unlikely to preserve a rigorous approach to assessment” and could lead to low standards, according to the OfS.

The regulator says that the cases within the review were not formal regulatory investigations, but that if they had been it would have had concerns about compliance with a number of conditions of registration relating to upholding standards.

Susan Lapworth, director of regulation at the OfS, said that in publishing the report, the regulator was “being clear with universities and colleges that we want to see change. Effective assessment should take into account all aspects of a student’s work, and this includes their ability to express themselves effectively and correctly in written English.

“Students should be able to communicate their ideas effectively. This means their written work must be of a high standard, with correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. It is not possible to analyse and explore complex theories and arguments without being able to write well, and universities should recognise this as they assess their students,” she said.

anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com