GDP: Audit & Risk Committee

This virtual, half-day session will focus on the major risks facing higher education institutions, scenario planning and how risk assurance frameworks are evolving within higher education and across wider sectors.

The event will also cover regulatory expectations on audit committees, including value for money, governance and risk management, and the key elements of the CUC audit committee code of practice. Attendees will also learn from external and internal audit leads offering their experience and views on the challenges facing audit committees, with for audit committee chairs and members for how to monitor, evaluate and improve approaches and policies.

This is a standalone 1 day event.

Who is this event for?

This online event is designed to support and inform those who lead and sit on Audit and Risk Committees and will also be of interest to those in wider HE governance and leadership.

Join us at GDP: Audit & Risk Committee

11 March 2026
Location: Virtual

T+Cs

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Learning Outcomes

Improve your understanding of the policy environment and how this impacts the work of Audit and Risk committees.
Consider developing sector practice in relation to internal audit.
Consider development sector practice in relation to external audit and how they work with higher education institutions.

Agenda

09:30am Welcome and Introductions - Aaron Porter, Associate Director (Governance), Advance HE

09:45am The Changing External Audit Environment - Salma Younis, Director, KPMG

10:20am Panel: Ensuring an Effective Approach to Higher Education Audit - John Rushforth, Senior Governance Associate, Advance HE & Ololade Adesanya, Chair, Audit and Risk Committee, University of Bristol

10:55am Break

11:10am Creating the Optimal Conditions for Effective Internal Audit - Bridget Bishop, Head of Internal Audit, University of Hertfordshire

11:45am Breakout Discussions

12:30pm Close

Speakers

Speakers for the event are being approached and will include audit professionals from within and outside higher education sector, along with experienced leaders in HE governance and finance.

Aaron Porter

Associate Director (Governance)
,
Advance HE

Aaron leads on Advance HE governance activity through the delivery of our national Governor Development Programme which engages with around 900 governors across the UK on an annual basis. He has extensive experience leading reviews of over 25 governing boards. Aaron was previously President of the National Union of Students (NUS) and also chair of trustees for the organisation.

John Rushforth

Senior Governance Associate
,
Advance HE

John is a nationally recognised expert on UK University governance. He is responsible for the key documents that underpin the governance of all publicly funded UK HE institutions namely the CUC HE Code of Governance, the HE Senior Staff Remuneration Code, a range of illustrative practice notes e.g. Academic Assurance, Recruitment of VCs, etc and a Leadership Foundation publication on the relationship between Vice Chancellors and Chairs.

Ololade Adesanya

Independent Trustee and Chartered Accountant
,
University of Bristol

Ololade is an independent trustee for the University of Bristol and Chairs the University’s Audit and Risk Committee. She is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) and designated ICAEW Business and Finance Professional (BFP). Various leadership roles have given her exposure to balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders, leading high performing and diverse teams, as well as interacting with Board and Senior Management across several organisations.

Salma Younis

Director, Public Sector Audit
,
KPMG

Salma is a Director in our Public Sector Audit team in the North. She specialises in external audit within the Higher Education sector. Her experience in the education sector includes financial statement audits, funding audits, internal audit, due diligence reviews and funding assurance work. She also leads audit engagements for other public sector entities such as NHS Foundation Trusts and District Councils. She volunteers as a Parent Governor at a secondary school and Chairs the Local School Committee at her local primary school.

Delivery

This event will be delivered virtually through Zoom, with joining instructions sent out by the governance team two weeks before the day of the event.

Along with the joining instructions and links delegates will receive a copy of the programme, with finalised timings, topics, and speakers.

The event will be delivered as as a series of presentations, discussions and panels, with time after each for questions and comments.

For any enquiries regarding the event please contact the Programmes and Events Team at:

[email protected]