Non-executive directors on the board of the Office for Students.

Thank you for your interest in becoming a non-executive member of the Office for Students (OfS) board.

England’s higher education sector includes some of the best universities in the world. It is also incredibly diverse; our universities have a vast range of different missions and values, with world leading small and specialist providers and further education colleges widening access to higher education for many. Our universities and colleges are engines of economic growth and a key part of our plans to put education back at the heart of change and the forefront of national life.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity. It is our aim to ensure higher education provides each and every student, whatever their background, with the skills they need to seize opportunity.

As the independent regulator of higher education in England, the Office for Students is fundamental to delivering this aim. It is also critical in ensuring that our universities and colleges make a strong contribution to economic growth, enabling our next generation of teachers, scientists, engineers, healthcare and IT specialists and other essential professionals and graduates to truly benefit from their higher education experience.

The Office for Students is entering an important stage in its development as a regulator. Whilst our universities and colleges continue to enjoy a world-leading reputation, the sector is facing challenges. In particular, these include the increasingly difficult financial context, and the need to safeguard students’ interests arising from that.

Last year, the government published the report of Sir David Behan’s review of the Office for Students: “Fit for the Future: Higher Education Regulation towards 2035”. This vital report looks ahead to these challenges and how the sector will adapt to them and sets out the future of regulation in this new environment. Its vision for the Office for Students is one of a confident regulator, refocussed to prioritise the financial stability of the higher education sector and deliver better quality and outcomes for students.

We are seeking to appoint a number of non-executive members who can bring their skills and experience to bear on the issues facing higher education in England. You will work with the substantive Chair, to be announced upon their appointment, as well as the OfS board and the OfS Executive team to provide clear strategic direction and priorities for the next phase of the OfS’s vital work.

The Department is focused on equality of opportunity and we are committed to ensuring that public appointments better represent the views of the communities which they serve. We particularly encourage applicants from under-represented groups, those based outside London and the South East and applicants who have achieved success through non-traditional educational routes.

Thank you once again for your interest in this role. If you have the skills and experience we are seeking, we look forward to hearing from you.

Bridget Phillipson MP

Secretary of State for Education

This campaign is designed to ensure the Office for Students (OfS) board has the right skills and experience to operate successfully. Board members are appointed by the Secretary of State and are formally responsible to them, through the chair.

We are looking for a range of high quality candidates who, together, can have the overall strategic level and wide-ranging knowledge, skills, and experience to contribute to the work of the board.

OfS non-executive board members play a key role in shaping the OfS strategic direction and supporting the reform programme. Board members are responsible for a wide range of activities including reviewing risks and benefits and monitoring outcomes against plans, oversight of OfS’s corporate strategy, and the stewardship of public funds.

It is essential that the board has the range of skills, knowledge and experience required to be the independent regulator of a sector which is of such strategic importance to the UK, including representation of the diversity of the higher education sector.

The OfS is the independent regulator of higher education in England. Its primary aim is to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers. It regulates in the interests of students and prospective students from all backgrounds, whether they are:

• undergraduates, postgraduates or studying other levels of higher education

• UK-based or international

• studying full-time or part-time

• based on campus, learning at a distance or in work-based settings or anything in between.

Created by the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 (HERA), which sets out its powers and duties, the OfS regulates through a voluntary register of higher education providers. Over 420 providers are registered with the regulator, and they teach or supervise over 2.5 million students.

Through its regulatory framework the OfS promotes high quality education to ensure that all students, regardless of background, achieve high quality outcomes that will meet the skills needs of the economy.

On the census date of 31 March 2024, the OfS employed 461 full-time equivalent staff. The regulator is funded primarily through registration fees paid by the higher education sector. Fees for academic year 2024-2025 will total around £30 million. The OfS also distributes around £1.6 billion of government funding annually. This supports teaching and students in higher education, including for expensive to deliver subjects, students at risk of discontinuing their studies and funding to world-leading specialist providers.

As an independent public body, the OfS reports to Parliament through the Department for Education.

Further information about the OfS can be found on its website here and details of the current board here.

This post is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. For more information, please refer to the Commissioner’s website 

• Excellent strategic thinking capability, experience of setting a clear vision especially in times of strategic transformation and demonstrating leadership.

• Ability to influence and build effective relationships with a wide range of senior stakeholders in formal and less formal environments.

• A commitment to the principles of public life and to the principles removing barriers to opportunity in higher education.

• Expertise in financial resilience and sustainability, adept at dealing with matters of value for money.

• Proven track-record of assessing or dealing with quality within the higher education sector.

• Experience of regulation in the consumer sphere, with knowledge of competition and markets.

• Understanding of financial and corporate governance at a strategic board level, experience of exercising good judgement and integrity within these settings.

If there is a high volume of applicants, preliminary sifting will be using the essential criterion “having one of the following in a leadership role”:

a) Expertise in financial resilience and sustainability

b) Proven track-record of assessing or dealing with quality within the higher education sector, or

c) Experience of regulation in the consumer sphere

We will establish which category each applicant falls into and sift using experience, and skills in that area.