Changing course location after enrolment

Short answer

Sometimes, but not freely. Whether your teaching campus or course location can be changed after you enrol depends on what you were told before you accepted your place, what your contract with the provider says, and whether any change is a fair and reasonable one under consumer protection law. A university or college cannot simply move your course to a different campus or city whenever it likes. The location of study is treated as important pre-contract information, and the fairness of any right to change it is governed by the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

The legal framework

Your relationship with your university or college is a consumer contract. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued guidance for higher education providers making clear that this contract is subject to consumer law, principally the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) and, where relevant, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

The CMA identifies certain “material information” that must be given clearly and accurately before you commit to the course. This expressly includes the location of study, alongside the course content, structure and length, and the fees. Because the location where you will be taught is material information, a provider is not entitled to treat it as an incidental detail that can be altered at will.

Two key principles follow from the CMA guidance and the CRA:

1. Any term in the contract that allows the provider to change the service, including the teaching location, must itself be fair under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. A term that gives the provider a very broad, one-sided discretion to change important features of the course without a valid reason or without giving you options may be an unfair term, and an unfair term is not binding on you.

2. Even where the contract does allow certain changes, the provider must have told you clearly, before you enrolled, what could change, when, and how, so that you could make an informed decision. Changes must generally be for a genuine and legitimate reason, and you should be given proper notice and reasonable options.

When a change is more likely to be permitted

A change to your campus or location is more likely to be lawful and enforceable where:

The provider reserved the right to make such a change in clear terms before you enrolled, and that term is drafted fairly.

There is a genuine, valid reason for the change, such as closure or refurbishment of a building, health and safety issues, falling numbers making a site unviable, or circumstances outside the provider’s control.

The change is relatively minor, for example a move between buildings on the same campus or to a nearby site that does not materially affect your ability to study, your commute, your accommodation or your costs.

You are given early, clear information and, where the change is significant, a genuine choice of options.

When a change is more likely to be a problem

A change is more likely to be unfair or a breach of contract where:

You were specifically told, or it was clearly implied in the prospectus, offer or marketing, that you would study at a particular campus or city, and that was part of why you chose the course.

The move is significant, for example to a different town or a much less convenient location, materially increasing your travel time or costs, or affecting your accommodation, caring responsibilities, disability arrangements or part-time job.

There was no clear right to make the change, or the term relied on is so broad and one-sided that it is likely to be unfair under the CRA.

You are given little notice or no meaningful options.

Statements made in a prospectus, on open days or in emails can form part of the contract or amount to material pre-contract information, so it is worth checking exactly what you were promised, not just the formal terms and conditions.

Campus, teaching centre and provider closure

If the change is really the closure of a campus or teaching centre, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) has published guidance on how providers should handle course, campus or provider closure. The expectation is that:

Providers should tell prospective students about any plans to close a campus or teaching centre before they apply, and keep applicants informed at the offer stage and afterwards.

Existing and returning students should be given early and clear information about the plans, why the change is happening, the likely timetable, how it affects their particular cohort and course, and what their options are, so they can decide whether to continue or try to transfer.

What to check in your own case

To work out where you stand, gather and review:

1. The offer letter and any acceptance you signed, and the terms and conditions in force when you enrolled.

2. The prospectus, course web pages, open day materials and any emails that stated or implied where you would be taught. Screenshots or archived versions are useful because pages get updated.

3. Any “variation”, “changes to your course” or “changes to programmes” clause in the terms, to see whether the provider reserved a right to change location and on what basis.

4. The notice you have been given about the change, the stated reason, and any options offered.

5. The provider’s own complaints procedure and student protection plan. Registered providers in England are required by the Office for Students to have a student protection plan setting out what happens if a course, campus or provider stops delivering, and what support and compensation students will get.

Practical steps and remedies

Approach this in a sensible order rather than jumping straight to formal action.

1. Ask for the reason and the detail in writing. Request a clear explanation of what is changing, why, when, and what options you have. Keep everything in writing.

2. Raise it informally with your course leader, school office or students’ union advice service. Many issues are resolved this way, and students’ unions often have independent advisers who deal with exactly these situations.

3. If informal contact does not resolve it, use the provider’s formal complaints procedure. Set out clearly what you were promised about location, the effect the change has on you (travel, cost, accommodation, health, caring responsibilities, disability adjustments), and what outcome you want. Reasonable outcomes can include keeping you at the original location, a suitable alternative, financial compensation for extra costs, or being released from the contract without penalty.

4. If you remain dissatisfied after the provider’s final decision, you can normally take the complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA), which is the independent scheme for unresolved student complaints against higher education providers in England and Wales. You will usually need a “Completion of Procedures” letter first. The OIA can recommend remedies including compensation.

5. Consumer protection angle. Because the location of study is material information, if you were clearly promised a particular location and the provider changed it without a fair contractual basis, you may have arguments under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (unfair terms and services not matching what was described) and potentially misleading practice arguments. In a serious case this could support a claim for a remedy, but the OIA route is usually the quicker, cheaper and less stressful first step. Court action should be a last resort given cost, delay and the difficulty of the arguments.

Key missing facts that affect the answer

The answer will turn on details I do not yet have, in particular:

Whether you were specifically told, in the offer or prospectus, that you would study at a named campus or city.

How significant the change is, geographically and practically, and how it affects you personally.

What your provider’s terms and conditions and student protection plan actually say about changing location.

The reason the provider has given, and how much notice and choice you have been offered.

If you can tell me what you were promised about the location, how far the new location is, the reason the provider has given, and what your terms and conditions say about changes, I can give you a more precise assessment and help you frame a complaint.