Department for Education

History

The DfE was formed on 12 May 2010 by the incoming Coalition Government, taking on the responsibilities and resources of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

In June 2012 the Department for Education committed a breach of the UK's Data Protection Act due to a security flaw on its website which made email addresses, passwords and comments of people responding to consultation documents available for download.

In July 2016, the department took over responsibilities for higher and further education and for apprenticeship from the dissolved Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Predecessor bodies

• Committee of the Privy Council on Education, 1839–1899
• Education Department, 1856–1899
• Board of Education, 1899–1944
• Ministry of Education, 1944–1964
• Department of Education and Science, 1964–1992
• Department for Education, 1992–1995
• Department for Education and Employment (DfEE), 1995–2001
• Department for Education and Skills (DfES), 2001–2007
• Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), 2007–2010

Responsibilities

The department is led by the secretary of state for education. The permanent secretary from December 2020 is Susan Acland-Hood. DfE is responsible for education, children's services, higher and further education policy, apprenticeships, and wider skills in England, and equalities. The predecessor department employed the equivalent of 2,695 staff as of April 2008 and as at June 2016, DfE had reduced its workforce to the equivalent of 2,301 staff. In 2015–16, the DfE has a budget of £58.2bn, which includes £53.6bn resource spending and £4.6bn of capital investments.

Ministers

The Department for Education's ministers are as follows, with cabinet members in bold:

Board

The management board is made up of:

• Permanent secretary – Susan Acland-Hood
• Director-General, Families – Justin Russell
• Director-General, Regions – John Edwards
• Director-General, Skills – Julia Kinniburgh
• Director-General, Schools – Juliet Chua
• Director-General, Strategy – Tony Foot
• Chief operating officer – Jane Cunliffe
• Chief executive, Education & Skills Funding Agency – David Withey

Non-executive board members:

• Marion Plant; CEO of the Midland Academies Trust and principal
• Ruby McGregor-Smith, Baroness McGregor-Smith; former chief executive of Mitie Group
• Ian Ferguson; businessman

Locations

As at 2 August 2016, the DfE has five main sites:

• [[File:DepartmentForEducationLondon.jpg|thumb|The entrance to the Great Smith Street site]]Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London
• Piccadilly Gate, Manchester
• 2 St Paul's Place, Sheffield
• Bishopsgate House, Darlington
• Cheylesmore House, Coventry

Executive agencies and public bodies

Executive agencies

Education and Skills Funding Agency

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). Previously the EFA was responsible for distributing funding for state education in England for 3- to 19-year-olds, as well as managing the estates of schools, and colleges and the SFA was responsible for funding skills training for further education in England and running the National Apprenticeship Service and the National Careers Service. The EFA was formed on 1 April 2012 by bringing together the functions of two non-departmental public bodies, the Young People's Learning Agency and Partnerships for Schools. The SFA was formed on 1 April 2010, following the closure of the Learning and Skills Council. David Withey was the agency's chief executive. The ESFA closed on 31 March 2025 and was integrated into the core department.

Skills England

Skills England replaced the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) from June 2025.

Standards and Testing Agency

The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) is responsible for developing and delivering all statutory assessments for school pupils in England. It was formed on 1 October 2011 and took over the functions of the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency. The STA is regulated by the examinations regulator, Ofqual.

Teaching Regulation Agency

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) is responsible for regulation of the teaching profession, including misconduct hearings. Its predecessors include the National College for Teaching and Leadership (to 2018), the Teaching Agency (to 2013) and the Training and Development Agency for Schools (from 1994).

Public bodies

The DfE is also supported by 10 public bodies:

Devolution

Education, youth and children's policy is devolved elsewhere in the United Kingdom. The department's main devolved counterparts are as follows:

• Scottish Government
  • Education and Justice Directorates
• Welsh Government
  • Department for Education and Skills
• Northern Ireland Executive
  • Executive Office (children and young people)
  • Department of Education

National Curriculum 2014

The Department for Education released a new National Curriculum for schools in England for September 2014, which included 'Computing'. Following Michael Gove's speech in 2012, the subject of Information Communication Technology (ICT) has been disapplied and replaced by Computing. With the new curriculum, materials have been written by commercial companies, to support non-specialist teachers, for example, '100 Computing Lessons' by Scholastic. The Computing at Schools organisation has created a 'Network of Teaching Excellence'to support schools with the new curriculum.

Post-16 area reviews

In 2015, the department announced a major restructuring of the further education sector, through 37 area reviews of post-16 provision. The proposals were criticised by NUS Vice President for Further Education Shakira Martin for not sufficiently taking into account the impact on learners; the Sixth Form Colleges' Association similarly criticised the reviews for not directly including providers of post-16 education other than colleges, such as school and academy sixth forms and independent training providers.

Funding and grants

In 2018, The Department for Education confirmed their commitment to forming positive relationships with the voluntary and community sector.

In 2020 the department began funding the National Tutoring Programme which employed private companies to deliver the tuition including at least one which uses children as tutors, paying them £1.57 per hour. Tutors received up to £25 of the between £72 and £84 per hour the government paid the companies.

References

References

1. [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-education-staff-numbers Department for Education staff numbers]
2. "DfE Estimates Memoranda".
3. "Susan Acland-Hood".
4. "Top DfE job goes to acting boss Susan Acland-Hood".
5. Fiveash, Kelly. (19 October 2012). "ICO: Education ministry BROKE the Data Protection Act". The Register.
6. Matt Foster, [https://www.civilserviceworld.com/articles/news/new-department-business-energy-and-industrial-strategy-swallows-decc-and-bis-%E2%80%94-full New Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy swallows up DECC and BIS – full details and reaction] {{Webarchive. link. (15 July 2016 , ''Civil Service World'' (14 July 2016).)
7. "DfE monthly workforce management information: 2016 to 2017".
8. "Our ministers". Department for Education.
9. "Department for Education".
10. "Occupation (Excel Download) - data.gov.uk".
11. "Education and Skills Funding Agency".
12. "The creation of the Education Funding Agency". Department for Education.
13. [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/247233/1393.pdf Skills Funding Agency, Annual Report and Accounts 2010–11] {{Webarchive. link. (22 January 2017 , accessed 15 April 2017)
14. [https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/education-and-skills-funding-agency Education and Skills Funding Agency] {{Webarchive. link. (10 August 2020 , accessed 4 January 2018)
15. "Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament".
16. (24 September 2024). "Skills England".
17. "Standards and Testing Agency". Department for Education.
18. "STA Feedback and complaints". Department for Education.
19. (20 May 2020). "Teaching Regulation Agency".
20. Education and skills] {{Webarchive. link. (6 December 2008 . Wales.gov.uk. Retrieved on 13 August 2013.)
21. "Home".
22. "National curriculum in England: computing programmes of study".
23. (11 January 2012). "Michael Gove speech at the BETT Show 2012".
24. "Computing at School".
25. "Computing at School :: Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science".
26. [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reviewing-post-16-education-and-training-institutions-list-of-area-reviews/reviewing-post-16-education-and-training-institutions-area-reviews-waves-1-to-5] {{Webarchive. link. (13 August 2017 Department for Education. Retrieved 1 May 2017.)
27. (20 April 2016). "Shakira Martin re-elected as NUS vice president for FE". FE Week.
28. (2 November 2016). "Student focus for Sir Vince Cable's FE comeback". FE Week.
29. (8 July 2016). "MPs launch inquiry into post-16 area reviews". FE Week.
30. "Grants and contracts from the Department for Education".
31. (2021-03-19). "UK tutoring scheme uses under-18s in Sri Lanka paid as little as £1.57 an hour".
32. (2021-02-28). "England's 'catch-up' tutors are being short-changed by private employers".