Ofqual boss Dr Jo Saxton will be stepping down from her role as chief regulator to join Ucas, it has been announced.
Dr Saxton, who has served as chief regulator since September 2021, will be leaving Ofqual in December this year before she becomes chief executive of Ucas in January 2024.
She was responsible for overseeing the return to pre-pandemic grading of GCSEs and A levels, a process which Dr Saxton said was “done” as of the 2023 exam period.
“I am very proud of what we have achieved over the past two years,” Dr Saxton said. “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.”
She added: “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.”
To appoint a new chief regulator, a public appointments process will start soon. An interim chief regulator will be confirmed in “due course” while this process is ongoing.
Before becoming Ofqual chief regulator, Dr Saxton had been an external policy adviser to the Department for Education and Ofsted. She had also held senior roles at multi-academy trusts and examined at universities.
Education secretary Gilliam Keegan said she is “hugely grateful” to Dr Saxton for her work as chief regulator.
Ofqual chair Sir Ian Bauckham 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 two 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.”
