Sir Hamid Patel, Chief Executive of Star Academies, has been named interim chair of education watchdog Ofsted, stepping in until a permanent successor to Dame Christine Ryan is appointed.
Patel, who joined the Ofsted board in 2019, will hold the position for up to five months while the recruitment process for a new chair takes place.
Dame Christine announced in November that she would relinquish her role this year, having served as Ofsted chair for four and a half years.
Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, is a non-ministerial department which is tasked with inspecting all educational services, such as schools, in the UK.
Star Academies is a multi-academy trust that operates 36 free schools and academies. There are nineteen secondary schools and nine primary schools (mainly majority Muslim) under the jurisdiction of the trust.
Under Sir Hamid’s leadership, Star Academies has consistently been one of the highest-performing trusts in England with some of the country’s top-performing schools.
In the government’s 2019 performance tables, Star schools secured first, second and third places in the national rankings, with five schools in total in the top 15.
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However, several schools run by by Star Academies have been criticised by Muslim parents for their close association with the British Army.
Beyond his role at Star Academies, Patel holds several positions such as Vice Chair of the National Institute of Teaching, chairs the Cabinet Office’s independent Education Honours Committee, and leads the Confederation of School Trusts.
Additionally, he is an honorary professor of education at the University of Birmingham.
His extensive contributions to the sector were recognised with a CBE in 2015 and a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2021, cementing his status as a leading figure in British education.
