BPP University

The University takes its name from the founders Alan Brierley, Richard Price and Charles Prior, who in 1975 set up Brierley Price Prior to train accountancy students.[1] BPP was first granted degree-awarding powers in 2007, and degree-awarding powers for an indefinite time period in 2020.[2][3]

In March 2013, the University and College Union wrote to then UK Business Secretary Vince Cable urging him to shelve BPP’s application for university title, pending an investigation into its relationship with its parent companies, saying, "At risk are both the interests of BPP students and the international credibility of the UK university title."[4]

On 8 August 2013, BPP University College of Professional studies was granted the title of university and rebranded as BPP University.[5] The move to grant BPP university status was criticised by the University and College Union in an open letter.[6] In November 2013, BPP was awarded the EducationInvestor magazine's "Higher/Professional Education Provider of the Year 2013" title.[7]

In September 2017, Times Higher Education reported that BPP had shut down its degree programme in dental and oral sciences with immediate effect after it failed to meet General Dental Council standards just a year after launching the course in 2016, leaving new students unable to start and existing undergraduate students facing an uncertain future.[8]

In June 2017, BPP was ranked "Bronze" in the Teaching Excellence Framework, a government-backed initiative to make teaching standards more transparent for students, with the categories for education institutions being "Gold" as the highest rank, "Silver", and "Bronze" as the lowest rank.[9]

BPP’s undergraduate Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) programme, which was first set up in 2009, was suspended in May 2018 pending a review of the law school's entire programme portfolio. Enrollment in the LL.B. had fallen from 665 undergraduates in 2014 to 105 students by 2017.[10] In July 2018, as a result of the LL.B. suspension, Legal Cheek revealed that BPP had made several staff redundant at its Waterloo campus.[11]

In June 2018, BPP shut down its Liverpool campus and told all of its students in Liverpool to continue their studies at the Manchester campus instead.[12]

In November 2018, BPP’s apprenticeship provision was given an 'Insufficient' rating by Ofsted.[13] In February 2019, Department for Education banned BPP from recruiting new apprentices citing ‘insufficient progress’.[14]

BPP University Law School was appointed as the exclusive provider of training to the City Consortium in December 2019.[15] In August 2020, citing ‘unreasonable bias’, a formal complaint was submitted by BPP students alleging the law school prioritised students with training contracts at the City Consortium law firms during the COVID-19 pandemic and sent them hard copies of study materials before the summer examination, an offer that was not extended to candidates without a training contract lined up. BPP denied the claims and allegations of favouritism.[16]

On 15 December 2020, the student presidents of the four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple – wrote a joint letter to BPP University Law School about what they described as “systemic deficiencies” with the university’s teaching. The student presidents expressed their “unwavering solidarity” with students “negatively impacted” by the quality of teaching on BPP’s Bar Professional Training Course and Graduate Diploma in Law programmes.[17][18]

On 30 July 2009, American private education company Apollo Group-run Apollo Global acquired BPP in a deal worth approximately $607 million, funded by an intercompany loan of approximately $104 million from Apollo Group to Apollo Global, $375 million in capital contributions from Apollo Group and $55 million in capital contributions from Apollo Global’s minority shareholder, the Carlyle Group.[19]

In June 2019, Times Higher Education reported that BPP owners, the Apollo Education Group, were looking to sell the University just two years after ownership changed hands in 2017,[20] but in December 2019, The Lawyer reported that "BPP Law School has been taken off the market following six months in which no potential buyer willing to pay the asking price was found."[21]

In April 2019, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) launched an investigation after a seating plan error resulted in a number of Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) students at BPP University sitting an exam in what some students likened to a “canteen”.[22]

In May 2019, The Lawyer revealed that BPP University in London was the most expensive BPTC course provider in the country for students in 2019-20, with fees nearly £3,000 higher than the national average.[23]

In July 2019, the university’s law school had to issue an apology after several students on its Legal Practice Course (LPC) received their advocacy assessment materials 48 hours later than promised, with their face-to-face assessments due the following weekend.[24]

In May 2020, BPP was accused of "threatening to withhold" January exam results from students whose fees were overdue.[25] Over 700 BPP students were said to have been affected.[26]

In August 2020, BPP University’s Leeds campus BPTC student Sophie Lamb told journalists that ‘she was forced to urinate in a bucket while sat in front of her laptop in her kitchen during the test’ while taking the online bar exams remotely, after students were told they could fail the exam ‘if they left their seats or did not maintain screen eye contact.’[27][28][29]

On 2 October 2020, BPP Law School students expressed their frustration at exams being scheduled during the December 2020 winter vacation scheme season. Students said BPP University’s timetabling decision would prevent them from participating in the winter vacation schemes run by law firms, which traditionally acts a gateway to a training contract for students. In response to the complaints regarding students being denied 2020 winter scheme work opportunities, a BPP spokesperson said, “Whilst it is unfortunate that BPP PGDL examinations do fall across the winter scheme dates, students do have the opportunity to attend a 2021 scheme.”[30]

From June to July of 2020, it was reported that former employee Employment Law lecturer [37] Elizabeth Aylott has successfully brought a constructive unfair dismissal claim at an employment tribunal after BPP University failed to reduce her workload despite her mental health struggles. Her concerns, later diagnosed as Autism Spectrum Disorder, were repeatedly raised issues in reference to her workload, including a period of working over 55 hours per week and having to cancel annual leave in order to meet work demands.[38]

The tribunal found that Aylott had been constructively unfairly dismissed on the basis that BPP University's conduct had undermined trust and confidence. It was also held that an occupational health referral for Aylott was not arranged in a timely manner, and there had been a rush to secure her departure from the University as a result of stigma arising from her mental health.[39]

Following the hearing at the London Central Employment Tribunal, the judgment of the Employment Tribunal was that BPP University (the Respondent) did: (a) Constructively unfairly dismiss Mrs Elizabeth Aylott (the Claimant) pursuant to sections 95 and section 98(4) Employment Rights Act 1996; and (b) Unfavourably treat the Claimant because of something arising from disability pursuant to section 15 of the Equality Act 2010 (“EqA”). However, the tribunal also dismissed claims of (a) Direct disability discrimination under section 13 of the Equality Act 2010; (c) Harassment relating to her disability under section 26 of EqA; (b) Indirect disability discrimination under section 19 of the EqA 2010; and (c) Failure to make reasonable adjustment under section 20 – 21 of EqA.[40]

• Official website