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 Board Member of the Office for Students, a Director of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP), a trustee of the National Space Centre and of the Skills and Education Group, based in Nottingham. She has chaired the Student Loans Company’s Advanced Learning Loans Stakeholder Group for several years.
Verity lives in South Leicestershire with her son.