James Aston, MBE

I lead BDO’s Education Group and have worked in the sector for over 30 years. I oversee our services, which range from external and internal audit to forensic investigations, mergers, acquisitions and divestments, business restructuring and tax. My team has exceptional experience across regulatory compliance (OfS, ESFA and DfE) and is often engaged on ‘difficult’ matters. We work with organisations ranging from nursery groups to higher education institutes, and charities to corporate.

I am widely recognised as a sector expert (HE, FE, private providers, independent schools and academies) in governance, funding and data. I frequently act as an adviser to government departments and agencies across education, including Heading the BDO Investigation Team for the Scottish Funding Council into "the reasons why the University of Dundee’s financial position deteriorated so seriously and apparently so suddenly" ('the Gillies Report').

I was a member of Ofsted’s Audit and Risk Committee (2018-2022) and have previously been a member of both HEFCE's Audit Committee and the Training & Development Agency's Audit Committee. I was honoured with an MBE for Services to education and charity management.