The English university regulator erroneously granted degree-awarding powers to a retail company owned by a former rugby league player instead of an education provider.?

The Office for Students (OfS) said it was rectifying a ¡°drafting error¡± that saw it confer the powers on a private company called LTE Group Limited, instead of further education provider LTE Group.?

LTE Group is a collective of education and training institutions that includes The Manchester College and UCEN Manchester. It has been registered with the OfS since 2019 and applied for degree-awarding powers in 2023.

After completing an assessment, the OfS made a degree-awarding powers order in July 2025 for a three-year fixed term beginning on 1 January 2026.?

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However, the naming error on the order means that it was not the education provider but LTE Group Limited that would be permitted to award degrees up to bachelor¡¯s level for subjects relating to design, creative and performing arts, computing, and business and management.

LTE Group Limited is listed as a retail sales business on Companies House and is one of several companies directed by former rugby league player Mason Elliott Caton-Brown.

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According to the?, the issue was first raised with the OfS by scholar Neil Dickinson, who wrote to the regulator to inform?it of?its mistake.?

¡°There was a drafting error on the order, which we are now looking to rectify,¡± a spokesperson from the OfS told ̽»¨ÊÓƵ.?

¡°The order is not due to take effect until January so currently has no practical effect.

¡°We will resolve the error as soon as possible and we have also reviewed our processes to avoid this mistake being repeated in future.

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¡°We have awarded LTE Group with [degree-awarding powers] and this does not affect that decision.¡±

The OfS paused all new registrations and applications for degree-awarding powers in December 2024 in order to prioritise its ¡°finite resources¡± on addressing the financial health of the sector.

Those applications that were already at an advanced stage were due to be completed, the regulator said at the time.?It plans to open once again to new applications from 28 August 2025.?

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com