Office for Fair Access

The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) was an independent public body in England that supported the Director of Fair Access to Higher Education in his or her work that was intended to safeguard and promote fair access to higher education. It approved and monitored higher education institutions in England through 'access agreements'.

All English universities and colleges that wanted to charge higher fees must have had 'access agreements' approved by the Director of Fair Access to Higher Education.

The first Director, appointed in 2004, was Sir Martin Harris. He was followed by Les Ebdon, whose appointment was confirmed in February 2012.

As a consequence of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, OFFA and the Higher Education Funding Council for England were replaced by the new Office for Students. OFFA's responsibilities officially ceased on the 31 March 2018.^[1]