Ros Morpeth is the new Chief Executive of the National Extension College [NEC], an educational trust set up in 1963 to pioneer the development of open and flexible learning for adults needing a second chance. As a second-chance learner herself, she has experienced the transformation learning opportunities can make to someone’s life.

Ros has worked in open and distance learning for more than 30 years in a number of roles including academic research; commissioning and editing educational materials, and senior management.

She's a former Chief Executive of the NEC from 1987 to 2003 and in November 2011 headed up a successful bid from the Open School Trust to take the NEC out of administration following its unfortunate acquisition by the Learning and Skills Network.

Ros was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Open University in 1994 in recognition of her contribution to distance learning. She is also a research associate at St Edmund’s College in Cambridge.