Mark Bedlow

Chief Operating Officer

Joined: June 2019

Mark became Chief Operating Officer (COO) in September 2020 having served as Interim CEO from September 2019, when he led AQA through the Covid-19 lockdown and exams being replaced with an alternative system for calculating grades.

As COO, Mark is responsible for leading on all aspects of exam delivery and the development of processes, systems and capabilities for digital delivery of all types of assessment. He initially joined AQA as Director of Delivery in June 2019.

Previously, he worked at OCR for six years as the Director of Regulation and Business Performance and the Responsible Officer. He oversaw the end-to-end delivery of both general and vocational qualifications. Mark had direct responsibility for the project management office, special requirements, malpractice, appeals and OCR’s relationship with the regulators.

He's a chartered accountant and prior to joining OCR, worked for PwC for 20 years across a range of roles, locations and industries, including travel and tourism, technology start-ups and risk management.

Mark was a board member of the Joint Council for Qualifications from 2015 to 2019 and was its chair on two occasions for a period of almost three years. He's also a member of the Finance and Scrutiny Committee of a multi-academy trust, which gives him valuable insight into the challenges that AQA’s customers face.