Leading Education: What Does the Appointment of Sunak and Keegan Mean for the Education Sector?

Gillian Keegan is leading UK education.

It all start on Monday 5th September, the Conservative and Unionist Party elected Liz Truss their new leader. The United Kingdom had a new Prime Minister. Following Truss’ appointment, we took a look at what the new Prime Minister meant for the education sector across the UK. From the implications of the ‘Opportunity for All’ whitepaper and the appointment of Kit Malthouse as the Secretary of State for Education, to Truss’ six-point plan for education reform and increased academisation.

Following a series of dramatic u-turns and economic market fluctuations. After just 44 days in post, Truss announced her resignation.

Less than a week later, Rishi Sunak – Liz Truss’ main competitor in the leadership election throughout the summer was selected to take over. The hope was that he could stabilise the economy, ease the pressure of the cost-of-living, and drive prosperity across the country.

In his first speech as Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ‘levelling up’ the UK, and noted the role that ‘better schools’ play in achieving this.

But how does his government intend to make this a reality? And what does this mean for the education sector?

Sunak’s Stance on Education

While Sunak hasn’t addressed his education policy any further than his initial speech just yet, he did give an insight into his own stance on education throughout the Conservative leadership contest over the summer.

In August, Sunak reaffirmed his commitment to a previous government policy announced in June of opening 75 new free schools across the UK. This indicated a continuing commitment to further academisation of schools by reportedly allowing trusts an “accountability holiday” of up to two years if they were to take on underperforming schools.

Improving the quality of school provision was also a recurring theme in his proposed education policy. To achieve this, Sunak stated he would explore the potential of offering a new ‘British Baccalaureate’, which would see all students studying English and Mathematics up to the age of 18 rather than 16.

He also cited physical education as an area that required improvement. He would also ask Ofsted to broaden their inspections to include PE and Sports classes going forward.

However, Sunak also recognised the importance of professional development for teaching staff in achieving his education reform goals. He committed to improving training. As well as exploring greater use of artificial intelligence and digital technology in schools to reduce heavy teacher workloads.

The New Secretary of State for Education

On Tuesday (25th October), Sunak appointed Gillian Keegan as the new Secretary of State for Education.

A former Skills Minister, Keegan will be the fifth education secretary to be appointed in the last four months. This reflects a significant period of upheaval in the Department for Education – and beyond.

Speaking on her appointment, Keegan tweeted: “I’m deeply honoured to have been appointed as Secretary of State for Education by the PM Rishi Sunak. Education transforms lives. I know that talent is spread equally around the country and I will work tirelessly to ensure opportunity is also.”

Keegan herself left school aged 16. She is the first education secretary to have left school aged 16 since Alan Johnson in 2007 – to pursue an apprenticeship at an electronics company. During her time there, she was sponsored to complete a business degree at Liverpool John Moores University. This made her the first education secretary to have completed a degree-level apprenticeship.

First elected as an MP for Chichester in 2017, Keegan has been quite vocal about her views on education since.

For instance, in 2018, while she praised the government’s national funding formula, she voiced significant concerns. Her views were that any increase in funding would not translate into improvements in the classroom or student outcomes. For many schools the increase in funding simply meant keeping up with raising operational costs.

The following year, she criticised the government’s track record on children’s mental health services. Keegan accused them of playing catch up, highlighting the “vital role in offering support and spotting the signs when people need help” that schools play. Keegan later called for an increase in funding for special education needs. She stated that many specialised schools in her constituency were oversubscribed and needed further support.

What Does This Mean for Education?

In many ways, the appointment of Rishi Sunak and Gillian Keegan represents little change to the education sector. Given Sunak’s repeated rhetoric of ‘levelling up’ and creating more opportunities in education, it seems that the government is still committed to the delivery of the Opportunity for All white paper and Levelling Up Agenda.

And many of Sunak’s policies align closely with this. For instance, a key part of both the white paper and the agenda is to improve the level of numeracy, literacy and reading for children. If anything, it looks like Sunak will expand on this further by emphasising the importance of continued study of English and Maths up to the age of 18.

Moreover, his commitment to developing teacher training opportunities is another continuation of the Opportunity of All white paper, in which the government pledged to deliver “the single biggest programme of teacher development ever undertaken in the country”; this included 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities, specialist training to drive better literacy, and starting salaries of £30,000.

It is worth noting that neither Sunak nor Keegan have gone into much detail about how they plan to achieve their goals. There was no confirmation that all of the education components of the Levelling Up Agenda and Opportunity for All white paper will be retained.

So, only time will tell exactly how Sunak and Keegan plan to drive reform across the sector.

What’s Next?

Schools and trusts must prepare to respond to the continued demands of improving teacher workload and student outcomes. Who can help you achieve this? With over 20 years’ experience helping schools and trusts alike to deploy effective and successful marketing strategies. Eduprise is here to help, from school admissions and staff recruitment to income generation and public relations.

With Eduprise gives you the expertise of a fully fledged marketing team at a fraction of the cost. We can take the pressure off your teaching staff to work as marketers as well as educators. Look at our services page today or get in touch with us for an informal chat.