The Board of Ofqual is today announcing that Dr Jo Saxton will be
stepping down as Chief Regulator. Dr Saxton will be leaving
Ofqual at the end of December but will continue to play a central
role in the education system, as she takes up post as Chief
Executive of UCAS in January 2024.
Dr Saxton has served as Chief Regulator since September 2021, and
in that time has overseen the return of exams for GCSEs and A
levels and reinstated pre-pandemic grading, giving grades
currency and value indefinitely. She also introduced a new Level
3 results deadline and awarding process, which meant that
vocational qualifications were delivered on time in summer 2023,
following the significant delays experienced by too many students
in the previous year. This will continue as a permanent feature
of the qualifications system from here on.
Dr Saxton, Chief Regulator, said:
It is a significant honour to hold public office and I take my
duties and commitments to students of all ages extremely
seriously. Throughout my time at Ofqual I promised that students
would be my compass and that promise remains intact.
I am very proud of what we have achieved over the past 2 years. I
fundamentally believe that a return to exams and pre-pandemic
grading was the right and fair thing to do for students of all
ages. I am also an ardent champion of parity – it was wrong that
there were delays in students receiving their vocational
qualifications in summer 2022, and I’m pleased we have been able
to change the system so that can never happen again.
I will be sad to leave so many brilliant colleagues and friends
at Ofqual, but I know that the organisation has strong
foundations and is extremely well positioned to continue to
ensure public confidence in our qualifications system. For me, I
am delighted that I am able to continue to serve students albeit
in a different role, when I join UCAS early in 2024, returning to
the sector where I started my career.
Secretary of State for Education, said:
I am hugely grateful to Jo for guiding Ofqual through the
challenges that followed the pandemic, ultimately overseeing a
smooth return to exams and normal grading.
Jo’s knowledge and experience have been invaluable as we’ve
navigated the past 2 years and returned to the exam arrangements
that best serve young people.
I look forward to continuing to work with Jo in her new role at
UCAS, supporting students to progress onto university, degree
apprenticeships and the world of work.
Sir Ian Bauckham CBE, Chair of Ofqual said:
While it is with sadness that we bid farewell to Jo Saxton as
Chief Regulator, we are enormously grateful to her for her
determined and principled leadership over the past 2 years. In
that time Ofqual has led the re-introduction of examinations
after the challenges of the Covid period, and re-established
normal grading. Fairness to students has been Jo’s abiding
priority, and there is no better legacy than fair examinations,
graded equitably and delivered on time. We wish Jo well in her
next role.
A public appointments process will soon be underway for the new
Chief Regulator. The existing senior leadership team and
governance of Ofqual will provide continuity of leadership to the
organisation and an interim Chief Regulator will be confirmed in
due course.
