The Office for Students’ (OfS) access tsar is set to step down at the end of his first term in office.

John Blake, director of fair access and participation, has announced he will leave the regulator this year after deciding against staying for another four-year stint.

A former teacher who joined the OfS in January 2022 after working in schools policy, Blake has led a revamp of universities’ access and widening participation efforts.

He spearheaded a new approach to the plans universities are expected to deliver in this area, turning the focus away from targets and creating a “national risk register” of sector-wide circumstances that might hinder an individual’s ability to participate and succeed in higher education.

�鶹

����������� that now this work was complete, and all the new plans were in place across the sector, “I feel that it is the right time for me to move on to a new challenge.”

He will leave at a time when the Labour government is placing renewed emphasis on widening participation, outlining in its recent skills White Paper that it plans to further reform the regulator’s work on access “moving away from a uniform approach to one where the Office for Students can be more risk-based”.

�鶹

This, the paper says, “will allow a focus on the parts of the sector where there is greatest potential for improvement”, with more accountability for providers “who are lagging behind”. The White Paper says the government is also looking at addressing the barriers faced by disadvantaged students in accessing and succeeding at postgraduate level for the first time.

Blake has also led on the regulator’s work on sexual misconduct, delivering an England-wide survey to establish the extent of the issue among students for the first time.

He oversaw the rebuild of student engagement systems after the regulator was criticised for seeing student representation as a “tick-box” exercise.

OfS chief executive Susan Lapworth said Blake had “contributed significantly to the sector’s important work to extend opportunity for students from all backgrounds”.

�鶹

“His focus on driving improvement in evaluation, in particular, will leave a legacy of evidence that will benefit students and the sector for years to come. We wish him well as he embarks on the next steps in his career.”

Skills minister Jacqui Smith added that Blake’s “commitment to supporting the most disadvantaged students reach their potential has been evident throughout his tenure”.

“His work has helped to ensure that students from all backgrounds have the opportunity to access and succeed in university, something which is at the heart of the reforms we recently announced. I wish him every success in his future endeavours”.

The OfS said it would appoint an interim new director of fair access and participation while it carries out the process of appointing a permanent successor.

�鶹

Blake has become the second person to exit the position after a single term after his predecessor Chris Millward left the regulator at the end of December 2021. Accounts later revealed he was paid £80,000 to secure his “voluntary exit”.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com