Ofqual Board

Thursday, 04 March 2010 23:37

The Ofqual Board is the legal authority ultimately responsible for the regulation of qualifications, examinations and tests. It also provides leadership and direction, setting the strategic aims, values and standards of the organisation.

The proceedings of the Ofqual Board are governed by a Governance Framework, adopted by the Ofqual at its first meeting on 1 April 2010.

The Ofqual Board comprises:

Amanda Spielman, Chair

Amanda Spielman is Chair of Ofqual. She is also Research and Development Director for ARK Schools, the education charity and academy sponsor, which she joined as part of its founding management team in 2005. She has had particular responsibility for the development of ARK’s curriculum, assessment and teaching model to secure exceptional standards in high-disadvantage schools. She also serves on ARK’s International Education board which oversees projects in India and Africa.

Ms Spielman worked for more than fifteen years in corporate finance, corporate strategy and business planning for Nomura International plc, Mercer Management Consulting, Bridgewater Business Analysis Ltd, Kleinwort Benson Ltd and Thomson McLintock, latterly at director and principal level.

She has been a trustee of Wales Millennium Centre, the charities Pilotlight and Saving Faces and the National Council of Women of Great Britain.

She has MA in Comparative Education from the University of London, Institute of Education. She is a qualified chartered accountant and has an MA in mathematics and law from Clare College, Cambridge

Ms Spielman is Research and Development Director of the academy operator ARK Schools.

For more information on Ms Spielman’s appointment, please see our press release.

Glenys Stacey, Chief Regulator

Glenys is a solicitor by profession, and has been a public sector chief executive for twelve years. She is experienced in both start-up and growth strategies, in working in complex casework environments and in the role of regulation and of strategic regulators.

She joined Ofqual as its Chief Executive in March 2011. Before that she was the Chief Executive of Standards for England, joining them in April 2008. In 2004, she was appointed as the first Chief Executive of Animal Health, the Executive Agency responsible for managing the field response to outbreaks of notifiable animal disease such as Avian Influenza and Foot and Mouth. In that role she worked closely with local authorities in planning for and managing disease outbreaks and day to day animal health work, and led large scale programmes of work to simplify and reform the regulatory environment.

Formerly, she was first Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Magistrates' Courts Committee (800 staff, 3,000 magistrates) delivering summary justice in ten courthouses. The largest provincial Magistrates’ Courts’ Committee, it played a lead role in delivering the Government’s criminal justice policies, dealing with some 800,000 cases annually. Her first chief executive role was establishing the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an NDPB responsible for the review and investigation of suspected miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Sandra Burslem, Deputy Chair

Sandra was Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University from 1997 - 2005, the culmination of a 32 year career in Higher Education. She is the first independent Chair of the British Council's Education-UK partnership and is a member of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales. Sandra was a Civil Service Commissioner from 2005 – 2010.

Other former academic appointments include Deputy Chair of the national Learning and Skills Council; Chair of the Capital Committee; Chair of the National Quality Assurance Framework Review Group for Higher Education; and a member of the HE Funding Council's Quality Assurance and Learning and Teaching Committee, and Audit Committee. She was an elected member of the Executive Board of Universities UK.

Sandra now sits on the Boards of a number of educational institutions, including the Royal Northern College of Music, where she also Chairs the Audit Committee, and is the Chair of the governors of Chetham's School of Music. She was a member of the Bench of Manchester City Magistrates from 1981 - 2010. Sandra was awarded an OBE for services to Higher Education in 1992, and became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in the New Years Honours in 2004.

Ray Coughlin

Ray has a background in the financial services industry having held general management positions in HR and Strategic Management. Additionally he has served on a number of public bodies focusing on equal opportunities, labour relations and pay determination. Retired, Ray now works part time as a consultant. He has been appointed to represent the interests of Northern Ireland and his appointment is for four years. He has been appointed to represent the interests of Northern Ireland and his appointment is for four years.

Neil Watts

Neil is an experienced secondary headteacher now working as a consultant headteacher for Suffolk County Council. He is a member of the Architects Registration Board, is on the Board of Trustees of SHINE (formerly the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus) and has recently been appointed to the Board of the Press Complaints Commission. His appointment to the Ofqual board is for four years.

Dame Denise Holt

Denise had an extensive career with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, culminating in the role of British Ambassador to Mexico (2002-05) and later to Spain and Andorra (2007-09). She joined the Ofqual Board in 2010, also becoming a member of the NHS Pay Review Body. In 2011 she joined the Boards of HSBC Bank plc and Scottish Power Renewable Energy Ltd as a Non-Executive Director.

In addition, Denise is Chair of the Anglo-Spanish Society, a Member of the Management Council of the Canada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies (London School of Economics) and Robin Humphrey Fellow at the School for American Studies, University of London. She also works with the Alzheimer's Society.

Maggie Galliers

Maggie Galliers has been Principal of Leicester College since 2002, having previously been Principal of Henley College Coventry. She has broad experience at Board level nationally and she was awarded a CBE in 2009 in recognition of services to local and national FE. Her appointment is for three years.

Tim Balcon

Tim Balcon is Chief Executive of Energy & Utility Skills. He began his career as an Apprentice Service Engineer for British Gas, where he went on to work as a Training Advisor and National Project Manager. He has previously managed an Inward Investment Project aimed at reskilling the workforce in Nottingham made redundant from the mining and textile trades and was the Chief Executive Officer of the Gas Industry National Training Organisation (GINTO). Tim is a past President of the Institute of Water and Companion of IGEM. He has been appointed for two years.

Philip Fletcher

Philip Fletcher is Chairman of Ofwat (the Water Services Regulation Authority). His previous career was mainly in the former Department of the Environment, helping to develop and implement policy on issues from land use planning and urban regeneration to environmental protection and local government finance. Subsequently, he was Chief Executive of PSA Services, the provider of Government property services, overseeing its privatisation, and Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District, providing financial and other services to the Metropolitan Police. Philip is a member of the Archbishops’ Council for the Church of England. He has been appointed for three years.

Barnaby Lenon

Barnaby Lenon is currently Chairman of the Independent Schools Council. He taught at Eton for 12 years before becoming Deputy Head Master of Highgate School. In 1994 he became head of Trinity School, Croydon and from 1999 to 2011 was head of Harrow School - during which time he taught three A-level subjects. He has been a governor of 12 schools and is currently a governor of the Chelsea Academy and the London Academy of Excellence. He is Vice-President of the Royal Geographical Society.

Anne Heal

Anne is Managing Director, Strategy & Propositions for Openreach, part of BT. A Sloan Fellow of the London Business School, Anne’s business experience included roles at a major advertising and PR agency and the Ford Motor Company before joining BT. Her subsequent roles at BT included Head of the Office of the Chairman & Chief Executive, Director of Strategic Planning and Director of Regulatory Affairs where she led BT’s response to the Ofcom Strategic Review of Telecoms. Anne is Deputy Chairman of Governors of Unicorn School, Kew, and she has held various other board positions.

Professor Julius Weinberg

Julius is the Vice-Chancellor of Kingston University. Prior to this he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at City University London and has also held the roles at that university of Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and director of the Institute of Health Sciences. He is qualified in medicine and has worked around the world as a clinician and within public health. Julius has been an expert adviser to two House of Lords Science and Engineering Select Committee inquiries and now leads a General Medical Council team that undertakes quality assurance of undergraduate medical education. He is also a board member of London Higher and is a school governor.

Roger Taylor

Roger Taylor is Director of Research and Public Affairs at Dr Foster where he is responsible for public information including the Dr Foster Hospital Guide. Roger was a co-founder of Dr Foster and has been a strong advocate for the role of greater transparency as a mechanism for consumer protection as well as a driver for quality improvement in public services. Roger began his career as a journalist working as a correspondent for the Financial Times in the UK and the US. Prior to that, he worked for the Consumers' Association, writing and researching for Which? magazine.

Tom Taylor

Tom has considerable experience in both the public and private sectors working with the highest levels of government. He has previously worked in the manufacturing, energy, consultancy and healthcare sectors. His current role is as Chief Executive of the Agriculture and Horticulture Board and he is a member of the Ministerial Agri-Food Common Agricultural Policy Reform Group and the Ministerial Food Export Forum. Tom is also Chair of Meat & Livestock Commercial Services Ltd, a member of Allocate Software Healthcare Advisory Board, a member of the Criticaleye Advisory Board and he is on the Ownership Board of Assured Food Standards. Tom is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, the Institute of Directors, the Chartered Management Institute, and the Healthcare Finance Managers Association and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 22 May 2012 16:45 Tags: Ofqual board, board, Ofqual committee, committee, Amanda Spielman, Glenys Stacey, Sandra Burslem, Ray Coughlin, Neil Watts, Dame Denise Holt, Maggie Galliers, Tim Balcon, Philip Fletcher, Barnaby Lenon, Anne Heal, Julius Weinberg, Roger Taylor, Tom Taylor