Simon Lebus will replace Dame Glenys Stacey from 1 January as interim chief regulator of Ofqual, the Department for Education has announced.

He will be in post up to 17 September 2021. Dame Glenys had been appointed temporarily to her old role following the summer’s grading fiasco but was always going to leave at the end of the year.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “Simon’s knowledge and experience will be vital as we work to make sure young people taking exams and qualifications in 2021 have the best possible chance to succeed.

New interim chief regulator at Ofqual

“I’d like to thank Dame Glenys for her commitment and support over the last four months as acting chief regulator, in particular regarding the exceptional measures that have been put in place for exams next year.

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“I am grateful to her for agreeing to continue to support work on exams from January, as chair of the 2021 committee of Ofqual’s board.”

Mr Lebus has been working in education since 2002 and was chief executive at Cambridge Assessment between 2002 and 2018.

He said: “I look forward to working with colleagues at Ofqual, its board, the DfE, awarding organisations and across the education and training sector to ensure a smooth-running exam series in 2021 and to tackle important longer-term issues such as technical and vocational qualification reform and supporting innovation in assessment.

“Having spent 15 years of my career involved with public exams and qualifications, I have no doubt that Ofqual has an absolutely central role in ensuring the integrity, independence, fairness and quality of our assessment system, and it will be a privilege to lead it in doing that.”

Dame Glenys will continue to provide support to Ofqual as chair of a committee of the regulator’s board focusing on exams and assessments in 2021.