The boss and co-founder of the Education Policy Institute (EPI) will leave her role at the think tank for a senior job at the country’s largest exam board.
EPI CEO Natalie Perera has announced she will step down from her position at the end of January, having been at the helm since its creation in 2015.
Sir Chris Husbands, the EPI’s chair, said Perera’s “vision and passion were instrumental in co-founding this organisation and building it into the respected, high-impact body it is today”.
She will join AQA as chief external affairs and communications officer, as the exam board looks to “further strengthen…at a crucial period in the education sector”.
Husbands added: “On behalf of the entire board, I want to extend our deepest gratitude to Natalie for a decade of outstanding leadership.
“She leaves EPI in a strong position, and we wish her all the very best in her new role.”
The EPI said its board “has begun the process of searching for a new chief executive to lead [it] into its next chapter”.
‘Right time to step away’
Before launching the research body with former schools minister David Laws, Perera worked as a civil servant for over a decade, starting in the Department for Education.
Between 2014 and 2015, she was seconded to the Cabinet Office, where she worked in the deputy prime minister’s office.
She said the “time feels right for me to step away, knowing that EPI will continue to flourish”.
“I’m looking forward to joining AQA, a charity which I have admired and worked with closely over the years, and I am pleased that this new role gives me the opportunity to continue to work with closely with the sector.”
The announcement came as AQA also confirmed United Learning Trust director of curriculum and assessment Dale Bassett will re-join the organisation as chief qualifications officer.
Meanwhile, Anna Trethewey, its current chief corporate affairs and strategy officer, will move into the newly created role of chief strategy and vocational officer.
CEO Colin Hughes said: “These appointments further strengthen AQA’s executive team at a crucial period in the education sector.”
