Guidance

Further education institutions: changing a name

How to change the name of an institution in the further education sector, including the criteria used to assess applications and advice on sensitive words.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 28 September 2018
• Last updated: 16 June 2023 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

Changing the name of a further education institution

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Details

This guidance applies to:

• further education corporations
• sixth-form college corporations
• bodies conducting institutions that are designated as being within the further education (FE) sector

Corporations or other bodies running an institution within the FE sector can change their name:

• in accordance with their Instruments and Articles
• with the approval of the Secretary of State (SoS) for Education - this does not apply to some bodies running a designated institution

There is a separate process for:

• changing a registered name with Companies House
• adopting a business (trading) name

Published 28 September 2018
Last updated 16 June 2023 + show all updates

1. 16 June 2023

   Updated to explain that the Charity Commission can reject unsuitable names. This is in line with updated Charity Commission guidance.

2. 19 November 2021

   Updated information on how to carry out a consultation, what providers need to give in their application and how the process works when there is a college merger.

3. 28 September 2018

   First published.