UCAS International Conference 2025

Mike joined the University of Cambridge in October 2021, having previously worked as Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach at the University of Bath (2014-21) and University of Oxford (2006-2014), and Head of Undergraduate Admissions and Student Recruitment at the University of Essex (1998-2006). 

Mike heads the team responsible for supporting undergraduate and postgraduate student admissions, student recruitment and marketing (UK and international), scholarships and funding, and widening access and participation. He has oversight of the team developing the University Foundation Year for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, which had the first intake in October 2022. Mike is also one of four Deputy Directors in the Education Services department, with a particular responsibility for student admissions, access and participation. He is also a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

He is Chair of the UCAS Council, the stakeholder advisory group that advises the UCAS Trustee Board on sector issues. He is currently a Trustee of the National Institute of Teaching, which focuses on teacher training, professional development and senior leadership training for schools. Until July 2025 he served as Treasurer and a Trustee of the Council of International Schools and a Trustee of the AQA Exam Board.  He is Deputy Chair of the University Admissions Tests UK (UAT-UK) Board, the joint venture established by Cambridge and Imperial College to develop online admissions tests for entry to UK universities. He sits on the Sutton Trust’s Education Advisory Board, and the Rethinking Assessment Advisory Board. 

Mike graduated in 1990 from the University of Sheffield with a degree in English and History and attended Allegheny College, Pennsylvania for a year as an exchange student. He was the first member of his extended family to go to university, after attending state-funded comprehensive schools in Gateshead.