Sir David Behan is Interim Chair of the Office for Students. He took up his position in July 2024, following the conclusion of the Independent Public Bodies Review of the Office for Students, which Sir David led.

He began his career as a social worker and over a twenty-five-year period worked in five local authorities, leading three as director of social services.

He was President of the Association of Directors of Social Services in 2002.

In 2003, he became the first Chief Inspector of the Commission for Social Care Inspection. In 2006, he became the first Director General for Social Care in the Department of Health in England, advising ministers of both the Labour and coalition governments. During this period, he was responsible for a range of policy areas, including social care reform and the development of the first dementia strategy for England.

As CEO of the Care Quality Commission from 2012 to 2018, he led a fundamental reform of the way health and care services were regulated.

From 2018 he has held several non-executive director and adviser roles with a number of public and private organisations across the health and social care system, which currently include: Cera Care, HC-One limited, the London School of Economics Care Policy Evaluation Centre, the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Board and the international Sciana Leadership Programme.

He was appointed as the new chair of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in April this year. Between 2018 and 2023 he chaired the Board of Health Education England and until August 2024, was a Non-Executive Director of NHS England chairing the Workforce, Training and Education Committee.

Sir Chris Husbands has led two contrasting institutions – the Institute of Education (2010-2015) and Sheffield Hallam University (2016-2023). He has also led a range of HE-sector wide initiatives, including the Teaching Excellence Framework and the Higher Education Statistics Agency. He is now a Trustee of HEPI and of Jisc, and founder-director of Higher Futures, providing support to universities and others on strategy, implementation and change.

Marc Stears is an internationally regarded academic, political strategist, speechwriter and executive educator, who specialises in creating dynamic collaborations between academic researchers and broader society. Currently the inaugural Director of the UCL Policy Lab, Marc has previously been Director of the Sydney Policy Lab at the University of Sydney,  CEO of the New Economics Foundation, Professor of political theory at the University of Oxford and chief speechwriter to the UK Labour Party.. He is the author of several books, including Out of the Ordinary, published by Harvard University Press in 2021 and with his friend and co-author Tom Baldwin, England: Seven Myths that Changed a Nation and How to Set them Straight, published by Bloomsbury in 2024

Brian Bell is Chair of the UK Government Migration Advisory Committee and a Professor of Economics at King’s Business School, a faculty of King’s College London. He joined KCL in 2017, following 4 years as an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Oxford University and a Tutorial Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. He is a Research Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and a Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation. Professor Bell is a leading labour economist who is widely published, and his work on immigration has included papers examining the progress of immigrants in the labour market in the UK, and the impact of immigration on crime in the UK. He has also worked extensively outside academia, including at the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund, and in a number of financial companies in the UK.

Vicki has been Chief Executive of QAA for two years, during which time she has overseen the suspension and reinstatement of QAA on the European register of Quality Assurance Agencies, which led the Agency to demit from the role of DQB. She was a witness in person to the recent House of Lords inquiry into the Office for Students and has provided advice to government on not only matters of regulation, but also delivery of the lifelong learning agenda, drafting the legislation to criminalise provision of essay mill services, and the delivery of high-quality provision during the COVID pandemic.

Prior to joining QAA, Vicki was Bursar (COO) at St Hugh’s College Oxford. She has also worked at the University of Birmingham as Director of Strategic Planning and in various roles at Warwick University and Warwick Business School. She started her career in higher education at UMIST, where she worked in international student recruitment. Vicki worked on the Scottish Government inquiry into infant cremation practices, and has experience in the commercial and charity sectors, having run her own company and been director of a charity working with women and families affected by domestic abuse.

Vicki is a graduate of Manchester University, and Harvard Kennedy Business School from where she holds a qualification in the Strategic Management of Regulatory Enforcement Agencies.

Alistair is a member of the senior executive team at the University of London. His responsibilities include governance, communications, fundraising, marketing, legal, student recruitment, inclusion, regulatory compliance, quality assurance and supporting partnerships with federation members.

He was CEO of Universities UK from 2017 to 2022. Leading the representative body for the UK’s 140 universities – a registered charity and six subsidiary entities – his role included influencing policy, strategy and member engagement. Before this, he was Deputy CEO and Director of External Relations since 2013.

Previously, he was a Director at the University of Birmingham and has held external engagement roles for national organisations. 

Alistair received a CBE in 2022 for services to Higher Education and supporting the sector during the covid-19 crisis.

He is a member of the UCAS Board of Trustees and a member of the advisory boards of Wonkhe, the UPP Foundation and the Discovery Decade project. Alistair was educated at the Universities of Kent, Leicester and the Institute of Education, UCL​.

John is Director for Fair Access and Participation at the Office for Students. His role is to ensure that all students, from all backgrounds, with the ability and desire to undertake higher education, are supported to access, succeed in, and progress from higher education. He is also responsible for student information, insight and input within OfS’s work and oversees OfS’s annual distribution of £1.4bn of state funding to higher education.

Prior to joining OfS, he was a senior leader and researcher in the schools sector, leading on public affairs and curriculum research and design for Ark, policy and strategy for Now Teach and History initial teacher education for the Harris Federation. He has also worked as Head of Education and Social Reform for the think tank, Policy Exchange, was a founder governor of Oak National Academy, and served as an advisor to the government on reforms to initial teacher training and continuing professional development.

Professor Dame Sally Mapstone FRSE is the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews in Scotland, a position she took up in 2016. During Dame Sally’s tenure, the University attained a historic “double first”, ranking top of the two leading University league tables in the UK: the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 and the Guardian University Guide 2024.

At a national and international level, Professor Mapstone has served as the Convener of Universities Scotland, Vice-Chair of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, and as Chair of the International Advisory Board for the University of Helsinki. She is currently the Chair of the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) board, a trustee of the Europaeum, and in August 2023 she became the President of Universities UK (UUK). 

Before St Andrew, Dame Sally’s career was spent at the University of Oxford, where she was latterly Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education in the University, and Professor of Older Scots Literature in its Faculty of English, as well as a Fellow of St Hilda’s College.

Professor Shitij Kapur is Vice-Chancellor & President of King’s College London. He returned to King’s in June 2021 after over four years at the University of Melbourne, where he was Dean and Assistant Vice Chancellor (Health) for the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and interim Deputy Vice Chancellor (International). He was Assistant Principal (Academic Performance), Dean and Head of School for the Institute of Psychiatry and the founding Executive Dean of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s between 2007 to 2016.

He is recognised worldwide for his research on understanding psychosis and antipsychotic treatment – with over 300 papers, presentations and an H-index of over a hundred.

Professor Dame Julie Lydon was Vice-Chancellor of one of Wales’s largest universities, the University of South Wales (USW), from 2013 until 2021. She oversaw the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport to create USW and its wider group, which included The College, Merthyr Tydfil and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She brings governance and leadership experience through her current non-executive roles and from her previous experience as Chair of Universities Wales, Deputy Chair of University Alliance and Deputy Chair of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association.

After an initial career in magazine publishing and media, Shahid Omer joined the civil service through the Civil Service Fast Stream and went on to have roles in Private Office, business finance (helping establish the British Business Bank), Industrial Strategy and as Senior Policy Adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg during the Coalition Government. Subsequently, while at Department of Education, he led on Widening Participation policy in higher education, and International Higher Education (being responsible for the International Education Strategy; International Students; and Erasmus and Turing amongst other responsibilities). Most recently, he developed the Government’s Innovation Strategy while at Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and helped establish the Dept for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) as the Transition Director following the recent Machinery of Government change. He joined Universities UK on secondment from DSIT in June 2023.  

My current role is the CEO of Jisc. Jisc is a not-for-profit membership organisation that provides the UK universities, colleges and skills sectors with a shared digital infrastructure.

I studied psychology and management studies at the University of Glasgow, and started my career as a researcher studying how communication in the workplace supports innovation.

I have since held a variety of Board level leadership roles in higher education, most recently as executive director of corporate services at the University of Sheffield. In Sheffield I had strategic responsibility for all the core corporate services including IT, HR, Communications and Estates and Facilities. Prior to Sheffield, I spent eight years at the University of York, where, I held a variety of roles including deputy registrar and director of corporate and information services.

Over the years my work has covered high performance computing for research, library and archives, planning and strategic change, and leading the technology change team at the University of St Andrews.

I was a member of UCAS council for 8 years, chair of Universities and College Information Systems Association (UCISA), and chair of the Russell Universities Group IT Directors (RU)

Jo Saxton became the Chief Executive of UCAS on 15 January 2024, and was previously Chief Regulator of Ofqual from 2021 until 2024. Jo has a decade of experience in leadership of multi-academy trusts and has served an education advisor to government since 2009. Jo began her career in academia and holds qualifications from universities in England and the USA.

Mark Leach is the founder and Editor in Chief of Wonkhe. Mark worked in policy, politics and public affairs in and around UK higher education and founded Wonkhe in 2011 while working as a jobbing policy wonk in the sector. The first part of his career took him to the National Union of Students, HEFCE, University Alliance, GuildHE as well as a stint in politics as a special adviser to the former Shadow Minister for Universities & Science. Mark began full-time work on Wonkhe in mid-2014 growing it from a simple blog to a thriving business with a range of information services for higher education. Mark was appointed MBE for services to higher education in the King’s Birthday Honours in June 2023.

Mark E Smith is President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton. He is Chair of UKRI’s Financial Sustainability of Research Group (FSRG), a sector-wide group of experts who can provide independent, evidence-based advice to UKRI on challenges to financial sustainability. Previously, he chaired the former Financial Sustainability Strategy Group, which published a report in 2019 examining the impact of the cross-flows of university funds on the financial sustainability of the sector.

Catríona Cannon has been the librarian of Senate House and programme director of the Library Transformation Programme at the University of London since 2021. Before moving to Senate House, she was deputy librarian of Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford (2014–2021), and vice-president of Reuben College, Oxford (2019–2021).

She has previously worked at University College Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, University of the Arts London and King’s College London.

Alex Usher is President of Higher Education Strategy Associates, a consultancy based in Toronto, Canada. He is the author or co-author of many works on access, student financial assistance, higher education finance and quality measurement.

Esme Ward is Director of Manchester Museum, at the University of Manchester, the first woman to hold this position in the Museum’s 125-year history.  Over the last 5 years, Esme has led a transformative capital project, hello future, completed in February 2023, with a commitment to lead the most inclusive, imaginative, and caring museum you might visit. 

Esme has worked in university museums for over 20 years; previously she was Head of Learning and Engagement across both the Whitworth and Manchester Museum, embedding award-winning health and culture, early years, and age friendly work. Her career has been driven by learning and social purpose with a longstanding commitment to make museums more inclusive and relevant to a wider audience. 

Born in Montreal Canada,  she is recognised as an international expert in public service governance and reform, experienced leader and adviser, working closely with governments in Canada, the United Kingdom and internationally.

Moving to the UK in the 1980s, Professor Thomson obtained a PhD in social administration from the University of Bristol supported by scholarships from Canadian governments. She stayed on, working for the Greater London Council before becoming Assistant Chief Executive of Islington Council in London. In 1993, she was appointed Chief Executive of the charity, Turning Point. Professor Thomson returned to local government as Chief Executive of Newham Council before becoming Director of the Audit Commission.

During Prime Minister Tony Blair’s second government, Professor Thomson led the Office of Public Service Reform in the Cabinet Office and served on the advisory committees of the University of Warwick’s school of local government, the University of Birmingham’s INLOGOV and several think tanks. She was awarded a CBE for her work on public service reform in the 2005 New Year Honours.

In 2005, Professor Thomson was given a tenured Professorship in Social Policy at McGill University, Montreal when she was appointed Director of the School of Social Work and founding member of the centre for research on Children and Families.  She taught public policy, supervised graduate students and established a research programme in child welfare and communities in northern Quebec.  Alongside her role at McGill, she was appointed to lead Commissions for the governments of Ontario (Commission on Child Welfare) and Quebec (Patient-based financing of health care). International work included advising governments in Nigeria, Ghana, the UNDP and OECD missions in the Middle East. In 2014 she was received a Women of the Year award from the YWCA for her work in education.

In 2014, Professor Thomson returned to the UK to serve as Chief Executive of Norfolk County Council, a role she combined with leadership of Norfolk’s Integrated health system and development of a Combined Authority for East Anglia.  

As chair of the London Anchors Institution Network and the London Research and Policy Partnership and member of the London Partnership Board Professor Thomson is committed to the contribution the university can play in enriching life in London.  

She has served on many public and private Boards of Directors and is currently on the board of London Higher, The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), and the University Advisory Board for Coursera.  She also is chair of the Social Market Foundation.  

Professor Elisabeth Hill joined City as Deputy President in September 2022. She has responsibility for shaping and delivering the Strategic Transformation Programme which will enable the realisation of City’s vision and strategic plan (2022-30). Elisabeth is also leading the City St George’s Programme – the merger of St George’s University of London into City to create a powerful combined joint institution.  Prior to joining City, Elisabeth held various leadership roles at Goldsmiths, University of London including Deputy Warden, ProWarden Academic, Head of the School of Arts & Humanities, and Head of the Department of Psychology.

Dr Nick Barratt joined Royal Holloway in 2023, with a remit to look after all aspects of student journeys into, through and beyond the institution covering learning support, campus life, wellbeing and employability, as well as leading on one of Royal Holloway’s strategic ambitions around skills for choice and opportunity. Before joining Royal Holloway, Nick was the Director of Learner and Discovery Services at the Open University, a large portfolio that included the library services, having previously acted as Director of Senate House Library from 2017-2019.

Following a degree in Educational Research back in the ’70s, Jean began a career in Higher Education academic administration where she managed Registry and Faculty-based teams, covering the student journey from Admissions to Graduation. Latterly, she has been working as a consultant across the sector using human-centred design for process improvement to enhance the student and staff experience. Jean is a co-founder of the Service Design in Education network and is a co-editor of the recent publication ‘Transforming Higher Education with Human-Centred Design’ www.sd4he.co.uk.

Dr Catherine (Katie) Eagleton is University Librarian, and Director of Collections and Museums, at the University of St Andrews. She took up this position in 2019 have previously worked in a number of national cultural institutions, including the Science Museum, British Museum and British Library in the UK, and the Smithsonian Institution in the USA. She is passionate about opening up cultural heritage collections to the widest possible audiences, and the potential of digital tools and technologies for advancing the purpose and mission of cultural organisations.

Katie has a number of advisory appointments, including to the Steering Group for the AHRC Towards a National Collection programme and the Research Expert Group for the AHRC-DCMS Culture and Heritage Capital research programme. She is a board member and trustee for Research Libraries UK and for Fife Cultural Trust, and a member of the Designation Panel for Arts Council England.

Professor Janice Kay is the Provost and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Exeter. She is a Professor of cognitive neuropsychology, first appointed to Exeter through a Wellcome Trust University Lectureship. Her research, which has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council, is concerned with theoretical modelling, assessment and rehabilitation of disorders of perception, speech, language and memory.

Richard is currently head of business intelligence and data analytics at the University of Leeds where he leads a team providing data and insights to support strategic decision making. Prior to starting at Leeds he was director of data, foresight and analysis at the OfS

Rachel leads on policy areas relating to research. She manages GuildHE’s research , GuildHE’s collaborative research consortium of over 30 smaller and specialist universities and colleges. Rachel has experience of working on collaborative interdisciplinary research projects, and of multi-partner socio-economic research in the third sector.

Philippa Pickford is Director of Regulation at the Office for Students. She leads on the OfS’s approach to regulation, including the development, implementation and continuous improvement of regulatory decisions, interventions and enforcement.

Previously, Philippa held various senior positions at Ofgem. She led a team of over 600 people responsible for allocating £9bn of funds aimed at low carbon and customer outcomes. Her previous responsibilities include ensuring good outcomes for customers during the pandemic; strengthening the financial resilience of suppliers; and ensuring customers were protected when suppliers exited the market.

David works at Middlesex University as a staff governor and their Head of Student Engagement and Advocacy. Having started his career as a students’ union officer, he is a strong proponent of the student voice and in 2012 he founded the Student Publication Association, which supports student journalists across the UK and Ireland. He believes strongly in universities working together to support student engagement efforts, and so leads AHEP’s Student Experience and Engagement Network. He is also studying for his PhD at the University of York on the topic of student belonging.

Amira Campbell (she/her) [Ah-meer-ah Kam-Buhl] is the National Union of Students UK President. Her background in liberation campaigns, notably the black voices campaign during her time as an undergraduate at the University of Birmingham established her as the first remunerated community organiser at the student union and led her to then take up office as Guild President there also. Amira continues her anti-racism work as a board member for BRIG (Birmingham Race Impact Group) and as an executive for Talawa; a collective envisioning the interconnected futures of black feminism, climate justice and liberated education. Amira has hosted multiple roles in arts organisations including the Birmingham Royal Ballet, CBSO (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) and Underscore; a community orchestra that celebrates music of the global majority.

Mark Peace is Professor of Innovation in Education at Manchester Metropolitan University and Assistant Director of Learning Enhancement and Educational Development, focused on Innovation and Initiatives. His portfolio includes the creation of the Guardian award winning Rise programme.

Sophie has worked within the international recruitment sector for over 14 years and during this time has specialised in overseas markets, relocated to set up an overseas regional office and travelled to a large number of key markets. She currently works as Director of International Student Recruitment and Admissions at UWE, leading on the recruitment and admissions strategy for teams based both in the UK and overseas.

Kelli Wolfe is currently Deputy Academic Registrar at the University of Roehampton. She has worked in UK Higher Education for 16+ years across various functions within student administration, admissions, quality management and student support. She holds an MSc in Higher Education Administration, Management and Leadership from Nottingham Trent University (Distinction). Her current research interests focus on the burnout experience in UK HE professional services, with recent publications on the topic in Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education and Wonkhe.

Debbie McVitty is Editor of Wonkhe. Debbie is a former chief of staff at Universities UK, director of policy at the University of Bedfordshire, and head of policy at the National Union of Students, and is a founding member of Wonkhe’s editorial group.

I am the Head of Data and Insight at Point Blank Music School. My role involves responsibility for all of the statutory returns as well as assorted internal data analysis and data wrangling. As we are a small provider I also get involved in most other processes throughout the student journey.

I have been working in the sector for almost a decade, starting out at HESA in the liaison and training teams and also working at two providers before moving to Point Blank. I am always keen to share my experiences as well as learn from those with even more diverse and interesting student cohorts

Sam Friedman is a sociologist of class and inequality, and his research focuses in particular on the cultural dimensions of contemporary class division.

Jonathan Simons is a Partner, and Head of the Education Practice, at the strategy and public policy consultancy Public First.

Jonathan has spent the past nineteen years working in and with government on education issues – eight years in government including 2.5 years in the No10 Strategy Unit; as the Head of Education for the think tank Policy Exchange; and working in international education for the global charity Varkey Foundation.

Jonathan is a Trustee of Education Development Trust and the co-founder of Ark Greenwich Free School. He sits on advisory boards for Teach First, Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation, Impetus, and the Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities (CEPEO) at UCL

Alex has more than a decade of global and political affairs experience and an outstanding track-record of innovation, impact and creativity working for some of the UK’s best universities and government agencies.

Business Director, GroupGTI

Dr Wren Butler is a qualitative social scientist whose research interests constellate around belonging and unbelonging, inequalities, cultural ideals, and the ‘isness’ of social roles and identities. She has worked in a variety of HE roles since 2007, including leading an institutional REF submission, and completed two research projects investigating contemporary academic identities, roles, and experiences in English universities.

Based in Leeds, Justine is Head of Education and Skills and she is also Head of KPMG’s University Partnership Team.

She leads our work with some of the largest Education providers nationally as well as being at the forefront of our work in the skills space. In her University Partnership role she is thinking differently about how providers and employers can work together across a range of areas.

She has a particular interest in the economic development of ‘place’ and the role of collaboration to achieve that.

Following a 30-year career in education, including as a former CEO of UCAS, Mary now has a portfolio of non-executive and advisory roles in education and edtech.

She chairs the Dyson Institute and Pearson Education, Pearson’s UK qualifications arm. She’s a lay Council member at the University of Leicester and a NED at the London Interdisciplinary School, the Student Room and Education Cubed. She’s also a Trustee at HEPI and at multi-academy trust, The River Learning Trust. She is network Chair for edtech venture capital fund Emerge and advises a number of their portfolio companies. She chaired the UPP Foundation Student Futures Commission after the pandemic.

Mary has an MSc from London Business School, was awarded OBE in 2000 and was promoted to CBE in 2020 for service to further and higher education.

Rachel is the Director of Partnerships and Stakeholder engagement at IDP in the UK. Her role is to work with university partners on their student recruitment ambitions, as well as leading on government and sector stakeholder management, B2B Marketing and Global Communications. Prior to her joining IDP in early 2022, Rachel held roles as Director of International at the University of York in the UK, Head of Recruitment at University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and roles with Navitas for seven years in both Edinburgh and Melbourne.

Rachel is passionate about ensuring successful outcomes for her clients, sharing IDP’s unique data sets to help improve the policy environment in the UK and working with a wider group of colleagues in the sector to constantly improve the applicant experience.

Dr Brooke Storer-Church joined GuildHE as Chief Executive Officer in June 2024.  Prior to that, she was Director of Strategic Academic Engagement at Birmingham City University (2022-2024), with responsibility for co-developing the university’s academic strategies, developing and overseeing BCU’s new APP, engaging strategically with external stakeholders and contributing to the improvement of university policies and processes to ensure positive outcomes for all students. Before joining BCU, she spent 10 years working in a variety of roles at the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and then the Office for Students where, as Head of Skills, she developed Skills policy for the new regulator, spearheaded cross-directorate leadership initiatives, and launched competitive funding programmes across of a range of policy areas including graduate outcomes, technical education, degree apprenticeships, digital skills, healthcare education, and knowledge exchange.

Dr Arun Verma is the leading figure in integrating intersectionality, inclusion and equity in higher education systems, policy and programmes both nationally and internationally. He is Head of Equality and Inclusion at the University of London and Fellow of the RSA. His area of expertise is rooted in the relationship between intersectionality, inclusion and equality in relation to student and staff retention and success. He has led the embedding of intersectionality, inclusion and anti-racist practice in higher education, government, and a variety of national and global programmes, policy development and practices. He has been granted a number of awards facilitating his research and impact including a Doctor of Laws honoris causa from the University of Dundee for his impact and leadership in the field of inclusion, intersectionality and antiracism. Dr Verma is an established and respected voice for change in the higher education sector and holds several senior board roles facilitating constructively disruptive conversations about equality, intersectionality, inclusion and impact. His academic leadership is well regarded, of which his edited collection ‘Anti-racism in higher education: An action guide for change’ is accelerating action for inclusion in higher education.

Phil Allmendinger is Professor of Land Economy and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education) at the
University of London. Prior to taking up this post in July 2024 he held positions at various UK
universities including 14 years at the University of Cambridge where he was Dean of Humanities and
Social Sciences. His research is focused on urban planning theory and practice including changing
conceptions of space and territory, post-politics and most recently smart cities and the impacts of
the pandemic. He has published 16 books including his most recent Forgotten City (2021). In 2025 he
will publish Critical Planning Futures with colleagues from UCL and Cardiff and the fourth edition of
Planning Theory will be published in 2026.

Dr Helena Lim is Academic Lead at evasys, the leading provider of survey and evaluation software in the UK and Ireland HE sector. She has lectured at Bath, Solent, and the Open University, held Honorary Fellowships at Liverpool and Aberystwyth, held a senior role at the Higher Education Academy (now AdvanceHE) with a UK-wide portfolio, and is currently also Educational Excellence Lead at Queen Mary University of London. Founder of the UK and Ireland Higher Education Institutional Research (HEIR) Network, Helena uses her expertise to inform educational practices and and enhance student learning. Her data-driven approach informs evasys solutions, ensuring they are grounded in evidence and best practices.

Molly Morgan Jones is Director of Policy at The British Academy. Molly oversees all the Academy’s policy work and activities, on topics ranging from how the humanities and social sciences can shape a post-pandemic future, to purposeful business, to understanding society and community, and higher education and skills policy. She led the team that produced the Academy’s landmark review on the long-term societal impacts of COVID-19. Prior to joining the Academy, Molly worked at RAND Europe, an independent policy research institute, where she specialised in research and innovation policy. Molly has also worked for the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She has a DPhil from the University of Sussex in Science and Technology Policy and a BA in Biology from Northwestern University.

David Sweeney is Professor of Research Policy at the University of Birmingham. Previously he was founding Executive Chair of Research England within UKRI, the agency responsible for creating and sustaining the conditions for a healthy and dynamic research and knowledge exchange system in English universities.

Sarah specialises in advising universities on lending arrangements and financial restructuring. She has worked closely with universities for 20+ years on a variety of different financing products including private placements with institutional investors, listed public bonds, aggregated bond structures, term debt to finance campus development and revolving credit facilities with clearing banks. More recently, Sarah has supported a number of universities on financial restructuring and transformation, including dealing with going concern queries from auditors and compliance with the financial sustainability aspects of the Regulatory Framework, Reportable Events, Student Protection Directions, contingency planning and interaction with Office for Students, the implications of the USS Debt Monitoring Framework and compliance with the Pension Schemes Act.

Rachel Reeds has been surviving and thriving in higher education professional services since 2011. Her book, Surviving and Thriving in Higher Education Professional Services, will be published on 2 December 2024.

Aaron Reeves is a Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology at LSE where he works on the political economy of health and social stratification. His latest book – Born to Rule: The Making and Remaking of the British Elite – was published by Harvard University Press.

Jim is an Associate Editor at Wonkhe and takes a particular interest in student experience, university governance, and regulation – and leads our work with students’ unions.

His career background is in support for student leadership. He has held senior roles at the National Union of Students – where he led on SU development, campaigns and political strategy – and was the CEO at the SU at UEA, providing strategic management for the union’s charitable and commercial vehicles as well as policy support for the elected student officers.

Jim has served as a governor and trustee in both further and higher education and the voluntary sector, and is a regular speaker at sector events and conferences. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, an obsessive fan of the Eurovision Song Contest, and dreams of visiting Moldova.

Ian is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students) at The Open University, with responsibility for the university’s mission of enabling students to achieve their goals. Ian has oversight of employability, access and participation and quality monitoring and enhancement, and is executive sponsor for the development of the OU’s tuition model and the deployment of AI and Gen AI across the institution. Ian holds a BA (with QTS) from the University of Warwick and a PhD in Education from the University of Roehampton. He is a National Teaching Fellow, Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Professor of the Student Experience in Higher Education.

Andy is Professor of Government Practice at the University of Manchester where he teaches politics and is a theme director at the ESRC funded Productivity Institute. He also works regularly as an adviser to the OECD, the EU and the IMF, as well as for the Select Committees on Economic Affairs and Digital Skills in the House of Lords. He was a special adviser to education and science ministers in the last Labour government and also worked as an advisor at the Treasury and the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Michael is News Editor at Wonkhe. Prior to joining Wonkhe, Michael worked in various academic and managerial roles at the University of Southampton, King’s College London and the University of Liverpool, with a focus on international education and online course design. He is a Senior HEA Fellow and a doctoral student at the University of Bath’s International Centre of Higher Education Management.

Selena has worked across higher and further education, central and local government in leadership roles that have combined her interests in partnership, education and enterprise. She is also one of the founding Wonkhe Board Directors. Her current role is as Principal of the Building Crafts College, a specialist vocational craft college based in east London which is sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Carpenters.

Liz Thomas is professor of higher education at the University of York, and has been researching student diversity, experiences and outcomes for more than twenty-five years.  She is working with a number of higher education institutions to develop a whole provider approach to widening access and student success.

Katy Shaw is Director of the UKRI/AHRC Creative Communities programme and Professor of writing and publishing. Her research interests include devolution and culture, diversity and inclusion in the creative industries (the subject of her 2022 TED talk) and cultural policy making. She is the author of the APPG Inquiry report ‘The Case for Culture’ that set out policy recommendations, many of which have since been adopted by UK government, on how to rebuild rebalance and recover cultural production post-covid. She sat as a commissioner on the LGA Culture Commission and the Gordon Brown Union Commission. Her policy consultancy focuses on the role of culture-led R&D, innovation and the role of HEIs and further education in cultural partnership working. As Professor and journalist she is the author of five monographs, four edited collections as well as journal articles and essays on contemporary British literature and is the author of the British Council ‘Write Now: Teaching 21st-century Literature Globally’ report. She regularly writes for the New Statesman. She can be found on Twitter @profkatyshaw

Mark Andrews, pedagogical evangelist, Adobe

David Kernohan is Deputy Editor of Wonkhe. Until June 2016, he worked at Jisc as a programme manager and senior codesign manager, after being seconded from HEFCE in 2006. He has also worked for the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales).  As Associate Editor, David has responsibility for the development and delivery of a variety of editorial content. His key areas of wonkishness include teaching quality enhancement policy, funding policy, sector agency politics and history, research policy, and the use of technology and data in Higher Education.

David has written for Wonkhe since foundation, and also maintains a personal blog.

Richard Brabner is Director of ESG for UPP and Director of the UPP Foundation. He was formerly Head of Policy for the University of Hertfordshire.

Joe is the Director of People and Culture at University of East London.

Dr Paul Greatrix is Registrar at the University of Nottingham, a post he was appointed to in January 2007.

Prior to joining the University of Nottingham he held a number of roles at the University of Warwick, the University of East Anglia and Staffordshire University.

He is also currently Honorary Secretary of AHUA, the Association of Heads of University Administration in the UK and President of HUMANE, the Heads of University Management and Administration Network in Europe.

Paul used to blog regularly on Wonkhe but now has his own blog, Wonderful HE, and continues to try other things with podcasting.

Andy is Executive Director: Regulation at the University College of Estate Management. His career in HE began at the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council in 1991 and has included spells at HEFCE and HESA.

In 2013 Andy was appointed Director of the Higher Education Data & Information Improvement Programme (HEDIIP) which was created to reduce the burden and increase the value and accessibility of data and information about HE.

Andy has worked as a freelance consultant advising HE providers and related organisations on data and regulation issues. He has advised governments in Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia and Oman and he worked on a UN project in Jordan that developed statistical reporting for universities across the Middle East.

Andy is a former member of the DfE Information Standards Board and was a member of the independent review of 2020 qualification grades which was commissioned by the Welsh Government.

Dewi is the Director of PolicyWISE, the UK & Ireland comparative policy, research, and analysis initiative. Hosted by The OU, it brings people and research together to help find solutions to cross-nation issues facing policymakers.

Before setting up PolicyWISE, Dewi was the Welsh Government’s specialist adviser for education reform. He authored the national education strategy, recognised by the OECD as a leading international example of successful system change.

He also worked on UK–China education policy relations for the British Council and was Director of Policy, and member of the VC Executive Board, at the University of Bedfordshire. He is a mentor and adviser to UKRI and ESRC research-policy leadership programmes and is a board member at Seren Books.

Jonathan is founding Director of Different Angles, a consultancy that focuses on the social impact of universities and research. His main areas of experience and expertise are on the social purpose of universities in the 21st century, R&D and innovation policy, research impact assessment and the use of research and evidence in policy and decision-taking. Jonathan used to be professor of public policy at King’s College London, which he joined in 2014 to set up the Policy Institute at King’s and was its Director until 2017. He was subsequently appointed Vice President & Vice Principal (Service). Jonathan’s book, The New Power University. The social purpose of higher education in the 21st century, was published by Pearson in March 2021.

Ben has been at UCAS for over a decade and has been described as a ‘leading figure of HE admissions policy’, with his knowledge in this area ‘second to none’. During his time at UCAS, Ben had led the response and engagement around every major political event that could impact on student progression, including Brexit, admissions reform, qualification reform, Scottish independence, general elections, and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, which involved forming part of three separate ministerial taskforces.

James Coe is Associate Editor covering research and innovation at Wonkhe, and a partner at Counterculture.

Raj Jethwa is the Chief Executive of UCEA (the Universities and Colleges Employers Association), and leads the association’s work representing the UK higher education sector in all employment matters and in the collective negotiations on pay, pensions and related issues.

Raj was previously the Director of Policy at the BMA (British Medical Association) where he led its professional activities, policy development and collective bargaining functions. Raj has also worked as Head of Research for the Police Federation of England and Wales and as a policy advisor at the TUC (Trades Union Congress). He is a graduate of the London School of Economics, where he was a member of the Court of Governors. Raj is a Visiting Fellow at Kingston University and a member of the Prison Service Pay Review Body.

Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and a former Special Adviser to David Willetts, the Minister for Universities & Science.

Jess is an Associate Director within the Education Practice. At Public First, she works primarily with higher education clients and corporates on post-18 education policy. She was previously Public Affairs Coordinator at the University of Cambridge, where she helped the University respond to regional, national, and international policy developments and advised senior leaders on political strategy.

Jess has an undergraduate degree from Cambridge and an MSc (Distinction) in Education at Birkbeck, focusing on higher education & public policy