We have announced the members of our new Provider Panel, which will offer advice and constructive challenge on current and future OfS regulation.
Chaired by OfS board member Verity Hancock OBE, the Provider Panel brings together 11 senior leaders of registered and unregistered institutions around England to act as a ‘critical friend’ to the OfS and help shape the future of higher education regulation.
As the OfS sets out in its new strategy, the panel will play an important role in helping the OfS to deliver its work in collaboration with universities, colleges, and other higher education institutions.
With representatives from large universities, specialist institutions, and further education colleges, the panel’s expert members will help the OfS to understand the views of the diverse institutions it regulates, as well as alerting it to emerging risks across the higher education sector.
The panel forms part of the OfS’s formal governance arrangements and will work closely with the OfS board and senior leadership team to help it achieve its aim of delivering exemplary regulation in the interests of students.
The OfS will agree with the panel members a clear programme of work that will link both to the commitments it made in its new strategy and the OfS’s annual business plan.
Chair of the OfS, Edward Peck said:
‘In our new strategy, we set out our intention to collaborate as much as possible with the institutions we regulate. The OfS has made significant progress in strengthening its relationship with the sector in recent years, and our new Provider Panel is the next important step in this trajectory.
‘The members we have announced today are a true reflection of the rich diversity of the English higher education sector. 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.’
Chair of the Provider Panel, Verity Hancock 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.’