Six new members join Ofqual Board

Six people with a range of education and other expertise have been appointed to the Ofqual Board by the Department for Education.

They include those who lead or have led an academy trust, a further education agency and a charity. They will each work on the Ofqual Board for 3 years from 1 July.

The Ofqual Board, which is led by Chair Ian Bauckham CBE, provides leadership and direction. It makes sure that Ofqual carries out its legal responsibilities and shows integrity and objectivity in regulating exams and assessment for general qualifications, such as GCSEs and A levels, as well as a wide range of vocational and technical qualifications, including apprenticeships.

Ofqual Chair Ian Bauckham CBE said:

I am delighted to be joined by a range of outstanding professionals with a rich range of experience including in education and public service. They are joining Ofqual at a very exciting time, now that the first set of GCSE, AS and A level summer exams since 2019 has taken place. They will bring invaluable insight and advice in the years ahead.

Chief Regulator Dr Jo Saxton said:

I look forward to working with the new board members, alongside those currently on the board and colleagues on the delivery of Ofqual’s newly published Corporate Plan, which sets out the work that Ofqual will do to make sure that regulated qualifications are trusted, understood, good quality and fair.

The new members of the Ofqual Board are :

• Hardip Begol CBE – currently CEO of Woodard Academies Trust (due to step down at the end of July). Hardip has also previously held senior roles in government including in the Department for Education, and earlier in his career trained as a chartered accountant and worked as a public service consultant.
• Mark Farrar – formerly CEO of the Association of Accounting Technicians and previously CEO of the Construction Industry Training Board. Previously sat on the board of the Skills Funding Agency.
• Cindy Leslie – currently holds several non-executive positions, including Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee on the Architects Registration Board and Chair of Governors for Channing School, Highgate.
• Eileen Milner – previously CEO of the Education Skills Funding Agency and COO of the Care Quality Commission.
• Chris Paterson – currently Director of Impact at the Education Endowment Foundation and previously a senior policy advisor to the Secretary of State for Education. Chris is a qualified solicitor.
• Clare Pelham – currently the Chief Executive of the Epilepsy Society, and a non-executive Governor of Birmingham City University and Director of Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership. Clare has previously held executive director posts in the private, voluntary and public sectors.

Moreover, the Department for Education is re-appointing 3 current Ofqual Board members. They are Susan Barrett, a former audit partner at Deloitte; Matt Tee, who is currently Executive Director of Integration at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust; and Frances Wadsworth CBE, who is a Deputy Further Education Commissioner.