Sir Hamid Patel appointed as interim Chair of Ofsted Board

Sir Hamid Patel has been appointed to serve as interim Chair of the Ofsted Board until a successor is found for Dame Christine Ryan, who announced in November that she would be stepping down this year.

Sir Hamid, who has been an Ofsted Board member since 2019, will serve for a period of up to 5 months until a new substantive Chair is appointed.

Alongside his role on the board, Sir Hamid is Chief Executive of Star Academies. 

Dame Christine, who has spent 4 and a half years as Chair of Ofsted, will step down at the end of March.

His Majesty's Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said: 

On behalf of Ofsted, I'd like to thank Dame Christine for her service during her time as Chair. She has successfully led the board through a time of significant challenge and change, culminating in our current consultation on the future approach to education inspections. 

I am very pleased Sir Hamid will be supporting us as interim Chair, while the government recruits Dame Christine's successor. I look forward to working more closely with him and, in time, with a new Chair.