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1. What are Higher Education Corporations |
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Higher education corporations (HECs) are bodies corporate established to conduct certain former local authority maintained higher educational institutions. They are specified by Order of the Secretary of State. Many of the new universities, most of which were former polytehnics, were established following the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and are HECs. |
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Their powers are laid down in s.124 of the Education Reform Act 1988 and they are governed in accordance with articles of government made by the corporation with the approval of the Secretary of State (s.125 of the Act). The first HECs were established on 1 April 1989. |
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HECs were formerly exempt charities under the provisions of paragraph (h) of Schedule 2 to the 1993 Act. |
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They are now exempt charities by virtue of s.125A of the Education Reform Act 1988 as inserted by s. 41 of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998. |
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So far as it is a charity, any institution which is: |
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- administered by or on behalf of any HEC; and
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- established for the general purposes of, or for any special purpose of or in connection with, that corporation,
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will also be exempt. |
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The basic conditions that such an institution must satisfy are set out in OG 57 C1 section 2.2. |
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Some higher education institutions, (for example some religious colleges), which are not higher education corporations, may be charitable in their right and accordingly may be registered if they are established for exclusively charitable purposes. |
