About
Nicola has over 20 years’ experience of higher education policy and regulation. Until 2022 she was the first chief executive of the Office for Students, the regulator for higher education in England. Before that she led Universities UK, the representative body for the UK’s universities. She joined the higher education sector in 2006 as chief executive of the Equality Challenge Unit, established to promote equality and diversity for staff and students in the higher education sector.
She is currently professor of practice in higher education policy at the University of Bristol where she is researching issues relating to the experience of students, regulation and governance. She is also a Senior Fellow at the M-RCBG Centre at Harvard Kennedy School looking at higher education regulatory policy in the UK and the US.
Nicola originally qualified as a lawyer in both England and Scotland, specialising in industrial relations and equality law.
She is chair of the Council for At Risk Academics, the higher education charity that supports academics from around the world who need urgent help to escape from discrimination and persecution. She is also a member of the boards of the University of Glasgow and of Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music and Dance. She was awarded a CBE in 2015 and made a dame in 2023 for services to higher education.
Recent publications include:
How do we know if it works? Evaluating higher education regulation https://www.smf.co.uk/publications/higher-education-regulation/
The benefits of hindsight: reconsidering higher education choices https://www.bristol.ac.uk/policybristol/policy-briefings/university--school-college/
The relationship between teaching and research in UK universities – what is it and does it matter? https://www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/the-relationship-between-teaching-and-research-in-uk-universities-what-is-it-and-does-it-matter/