Peck’s picks: FE leaders join OfS’ ‘critical friend’ panel

Three college leaders have been selected for the higher education regulator’s “critical friend” expert group that aims to alert it to any emerging risks in the sector.

The Office for Students’ (OfS) new provider panel features 11 senior leaders from higher and further education institutions to offer advice and constructive challenge on current and future OfS regulation.

Former Leicester College principal Verity Hancock will serve as chair in tandem with her OfS board membership.

Debra Gray, principal and chief executive of Hull College, and Denise Brown, group CEO of South Essex Colleges Group, join the 11-strong panel.

Josh Allerson, managing director of degree apprenticeships provider Corndel College London – part of apprenticeship giant Corndel Limited, is also a panel member alongside five university vice-chancellors and two chief executives of arts higher education schools.

Members will act as a “critical friend” to the OfS and help shape the future of higher education regulation as part of the watchdog’s endeavours to work “collaboratively” with universities and colleges.

The OfS said the panel will help understand the views of the diverse institutions it regulates, as well as alerting it to emerging risks across the higher education sector.

Recruitment for the panel was launched in September and received over 80 applications from sector leaders, according to the OfS October board minutes.

Hancock was first appointed to the Office for Students’ board in 2019 on a five year-term. She stepped down as principal and CEO of Leicester College last summer after 12 years at the helm due to health reasons.

Hancock said the new panel will facilitate a “two-way” dialogue between the regulator and education providers.

Last year, the regulator published its aims for 2025-26, which included engaging routinely and collaboratively with universities and colleges to build trusted and productive relationships.

It also forms part of the OfS’s change to its governance structure to “to better oversee the OfS’s work as we mature as a regulator”.

She said: “Last year, the OfS told universities, colleges, and other higher education providers that we wanted to work more collaboratively with them in the pursuit of our priorities. The provider panel is an example of that commitment in action, and I’m excited to take up my role as its chair. 

“As a longstanding board member and former college principal, I know how important it is for the OfS to have a two-way dialogue with the institutions we regulate. Every panel member will have their own perspective of the risks and opportunities facing the sector, and I’m looking forward to working with them over the coming year.”

Chair of the OfS, Edward Peck, said the panel was the next “important step” in strengthening its relationship with the sector in recent years.

“The members we have announced today are a true reflection the rich diversity of the English higher education sector,” he said.

“Their views will help us to develop future policies and understand how our regulation impacts institutions of all types and sizes. 

“Our goal is to foster a thriving higher education ecosystem that is equipped to continue creating opportunity for all students and driving growth across the country. We look forward to working closely with the provider panel in the coming months as we strive to deliver exemplary regulation in the interests of students.”

The 11 new members of the OfS provider panel: