Head of the UK’s largest examinations board, Colin Hughes took up his current post in June 2020 amid mass uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But an experienced hand with stints at Collins Learning and the Education Publishers Council after a career in journalism, Hughes was trusted to weather the storm. Hughes entered the education sector after founding Learnthings, the Guardian’s digital learning business, in 2000. He is a former education editor at The Independent, where he was also managing editor. AQA is the UK’s leading exams organiser, with a 61% market share in GCSEs in 2020, compared with 46% five years ago.
