Toby Salt has been named as the next chief executive of AQA, England’s biggest school exam board.

He will join the board from Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT) - where he has been chief executive since 2012 - and replace the current AQA chief executive Andrew Hall who is retiring in August.

Earlier this month, TES revealed that Mr Hall had put his retirement plans on hold to help with this year’s qualification reforms. Professor Salt will start at AQA in July as CEO designate for an initial transition period with Mr Hall. 

He will take on the job at a difficult time for England’s exam boards. Falling income following the end of modular exams has led to redundancies in the sector just as it is being expected to introduce major changes to both GCSEs and A-levels.

Meanwhile exam boards have faced a series of warnings from government that it could still consider having a single state run school exam board if their performance is not satisfactory. 

AQA said Professor Salt had more than 30 years’ experience in education and had overseen “strong performance in student attainment and progress 2 across the OAT’s 31 academies.

He was reported to be one of the front-runners being considered as the next Ofsted chief inspector last year and used to be deputy chief executive of the National College for School Leadership where he led the teams for school-based programmes including teaching schools and National Leaders in Education.

Paul Layzell, chair of AQA’s council of trustees, said: “From his early days as a teacher in a comprehensive school to his current role overseeing more than 30 academies, Toby has shown a tireless commitment to ensuring that every young person realises their full potential.

“As AQA shares this mission, Toby is the perfect choice to lead our organisation into the future.

“I know he’ll provide strong leadership rooted in a deep understanding of the education world, and we’re looking forward to welcoming him to AQA in the summer.”

Professor Salt said: “I am honoured to be joining AQA, especially at such a critical time for education with the major qualification reforms coming in this year.

“I am looking forward to meeting new colleagues and working with them to further AQA’s charitable mission to advance education.

“But it will be a real wrench to leave OAT. It is a great team, across all our academies, and I am very proud of what we have achieved.

“I would like to put on record my gratitude for all the fantastic support I have received from across the trust, from classroom teachers and principals to the executive team, the Board and our Chair Paul Hann, and Peter and Diana Murray, whose support and commitment has been unwavering.”

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