New Director for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland appointed

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Kathryn O’Loan as our new Director for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (SWNI).

Kathryn will join QAA in June 2023 from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), the tertiary education and research authority in Scotland, where she is Assistant Director for Access, Learning and Outcomes.

Currently, she has strategic oversight of the SFC’s quality assurance and enhancement agenda across further and higher education provision in Scotland’s colleges and universities. This includes leading development of the recommendation within SFC’s Review of Sustainability and Coherence for a tertiary approach to quality.

Kathryn also leads SFC’s quality agenda at the UK level, including relationships and collaboration with partners across Wales and Northern Ireland.

Prior to her career at the SFC, Kathryn managed programmes for community education and for Education for Sustainable Development across a range of non-departmental public bodies and universities.

Upon assuming her new role, Kathryn will lead and manage the SWNI team, ensuring the operational delivery of its work and support the strategic direction of QAA’s role in the UK nations. She will also support our Deputy Chief Executive, Alastair Delaney, in engaging with stakeholders across the sector and government agencies.

Kathryn said: ‘I’m thrilled to be joining QAA at this exciting time for tertiary education across the UK and in the devolved nations in particular. I am very much looking forward to meeting and working with the QAA team, students, staff and funding bodies to build on relationships and established successes.’