The chief executive of the higher education regulator will stand down earlier than planned.
Susan Lapworth is set to leave the Office for Students (OfS) at Easter, despite being appointed for a term that was due to end in August 2026.
The announcement comes just weeks after the OfS published its new five-year strategy and follows the government’s post-16 education and skills white paper which bolstered the regulator’s role in overseeing struggling university finances, expanding higher technical education and cracking down on franchising fraud.
The OfS announcement did not include a reason for Lapworth’s departure. FE Week has approached the regulator for comment.
In a letter to education secretary Bridget Phillipson, Lapworth said she was “hugely proud of everything we have achieved” since she joined, initially as director of regulation, in 2018. She became chief executive in May 2022.
Lapworth said: “We have established a new regulator and a regulatory system focused on the interests of students in a sector that has never been regulated in this way before. And we have increasingly focused our regulation on the things that matter most.
“We have acted where students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are exposed to weak outcomes, poor academic experiences, or sexual misconduct. And we have robustly defended academic freedom and freedom of speech – the essential foundational values of all higher education.”
The move will mark the end of over a decade in higher education regulation for Lapworth, which began as registrar at the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the OfS’s predecessor, in 2014.
She was paid £175,000-£180,000 last year alongside a bonus of £15,000-£20,000.
Lapworth is the second senior OfS staff member to announce their departure from the organisation in as many months. John Blake announced last month he will not be renewing his term as director for fair access and participation. He was replaced on an interim basis by Professor Chris Millward, who first held the role when it was created in 2017.
Phillipson said: “I would like to thank Susan for her dedicated service to the Office for Students and to higher education. Her leadership has ensured that the OfS is now well placed to meet the challenges ahead and help the sector achieve the government’s vision. I wish Susan every success for the future.”
Aspiring successors only have until January 12, 2026, to apply for the role, which has been advertised with a four-year term of office and a salary of £145,000 per annum.
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