A senior civil servant has been appointed Ofsted’s new permanent deputy director for post-16 education, training and skills, FE Week can reveal.
Jonathan Childs is set to move across from the Department for Education to fill the role vacated by Paul Joyce last year.
He will oversee FE and skills inspections under Ofsted’s new-style report card model, which was rolled out in November, and spearhead the watchdog’s post-16 strategy.
Childs moves into the role from the Department for Education, where he worked most recently as deputy director for further education workforce.
He previously held civil service roles as deputy director for apprenticeships strategy and funding policy, and he led the DfE’s apprenticeships response team during the pandemic.
It is not clear whether Childs has any experience working in FE providers or on inspections. Ofsted could not provide this information or confirm a start date at the time of going to press.
Ofsted’s job advert for the role said it was “desirable” but not “essential” for the new post-16 education, training and skills deputy director to have “experience and understanding of inspection within the education sector, as it relates to post-16 education, training and skills remits”.
The role reports to the national director for education, Lee Owston, and was advertised with a salary of £108,574.
The FE deputy director post was last permanently occupied by Paul Joyce, who quit Ofsted after 20 years to become deputy principal at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College last year.
The inspectorate appointed Denise Olander as temporary deputy director for FE and skills in March while it advertised for a permanent replacement.
The first batch of new-style FE inspection report cards was released last week.
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