Paul Layzell

Professor Layzell CBE was Principal of Royal Holloway, University of London between 2010 and 2022. He is currently Chair of Herts for Learning, the UK’s largest schools-owned company supporting schools and school improvement across Hertfordshire and beyond. His role on the Board is as a co-opted member having experience in the provision of education.

Previously, he worked at UMIST and the universities of Manchester and Sussex respectively. A computer science academic, Prof Layzell worked on early developments of cloud-computing and ‘software-as-a-service’ as well as systems to integrate health, social care, and education data. Between 2001 and 2004, he was Programme Manager for the merger of UMIST and the University of Manchester.

Prof Layzell has served as a non-Executive director on many bodies, including chair of the UK’s largest general qualifications examination board, Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA); chair of London Higher, representing London’s universities; and chair of Eduserv. He has also served on the boards of Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA); Jisc; and joined the board of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust in 2022.

Prof Layzell was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Birthday Honours List in 2022 for services to Higher Education and Technology.