Chief Operating Officer and Director of Corporate, Assurance and Restructuring Directorate

Andrew Thomas

Biography

Andrew is Chief Operations Officer at the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

Andrew has been a civil servant for more than 20 years. Before joining ESFA he worked in the:

  • Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
  • Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

Andrew is an economist by training and has a breadth of experience including:

  • strategy
  • operations
  • contract management
  • finance

Andrew is responsible for supporting colleges and delivering:

  • the agency’s corporate functions, assuring £67 billion of funding to the education and skills sectors each year
  • an expert counter fraud function
  • the agency’s expert sector financial functions

Chief Operating Officer and Director of Corporate, Assurance and Restructuring Directorate

The Chief Operating Officer is responsible for the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s day-to-day operations.

The Director of Corporate, Assurance and Restructuring Directorate at the Education and Skills Funding Agency is responsible for:

  • change services
  • communications
  • finance
  • people services
  • governance services

The directorate:

  • supports schools, colleges and independent training providers (ITPs)
  • ensures that taxpayers money is used as intended

Education and Skills Funding Agency

Previous roles in government

  • Director, Finance and Provider Market Oversight, ESFA