Verity grew up in Hertfordshire and went to a local comprehensive. On gaining a law degree from Oxford University in 1988 she pursued a career in Further Education, beginning with roles at the City and Guilds of London Institute and with Training and Enterprise Councils in the capital. On the creation of the Learning and Skills Council in 2001 she moved into senior management, holding a number of positions including Regional Director for the East Midlands and National Director of Funding, Planning and Performance.

Most recently a senior civil servant with the Skills Funding Agency in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Verity was appointed Principal and Chief Executive of Leicester College in January 2013. She is a Governor of Babington College in the city, a member of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership’s People Board and of NIACE’s Further Education Advisory Group. She also currently chairs the Student Loans Company’s 24+ Advanced Learning Loans Stakeholder Group.

Verity lives in Lutterworth with her artist husband Mark, her mother Anne and five year old son, Theo. In her spare time she enjoys art, literature and serious walking.