The Department for Education (DfE) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further, and higher education), apprenticeships, and wider skills in England.
A Department for Education previously existed between 1992, when the Department of Education and Science was renamed, and 1995, when it was merged with the Department for Employment to become the Department for Education and Employment.
The current Secretary of State for Education is Lucy Powell MP and Susan Acland-Hood is the permanent secretary.
Its responsibilities are devolved policies, therefore it does not have responsibility in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and Northern Ireland Executive each having their own departments responsible for education in their respective jurisdictions. The expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department of Education are scrutinised by the Education Select Committee.
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.Matt Foster, New Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy swallows up DECC and BIS – full details and reaction , Civil Service World (14 July 2016).
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: Minister Portrait Office PortfolioLucy Powell Secretary of State for Education Overall responsibility for the department; early years; children's social care; teacher recruitment and retention; the school curriculum; school improvement; academies and free schools; further education; apprenticeships and skills; higher education. Georgia Gould Minister of State for School Standards School improvement, intervention and inspection (including links with Ofsted); regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE); special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and high needs; alternative provision; special schools (including independent special schools (ISS)); initial teacher training and incentives; teacher retention including the early career framework and teacher training entitlement; Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA); school leadership; school governance; teacher pay and pensions; school support staff; core school funding; pupil premium; school productivity; qualifications (including links with Ofqual); national curriculum; access to sport, arts and music in education, working with other departments; admissions and pupil movement; relationships and sex education and health education (RSHE) review Baroness Smith of Malvern Minister of State for Skills Governance, intervention and accountability of further education colleges; funding for education and training, provision and outcomes for 16- to 19-year-olds; further education financial stability and workforce; access to higher education, participation and lifelong learning entitlement; quality of higher education and the student experience (including the Office for Students); student finance (including the Student Loans Company); technical and vocational qualifications (level 3 and below), including T Levels; higher technical education (levels 4 and 5); careers advice; support for young people aged 16 to 19 not in employment, education or training (NEET); skills strategy and delivery; technical excellence colleges; international education. Jointly with Department for Work and Pensions. Josh MacAlister Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families Children’s social care; children in care and children in need; looked-after children; child protection; adoption; kinship care and family justice; fostering and regional care cooperatives; care leavers; children’s social care workforce; unaccompanied asylum-seeking children; single unique identifier for children and use of children’s social care data; child protection, safeguarding and serious incidents; local authority intervention and improvement; family support including the families first programme; tackling antisemitism; prevention of serious violence in schools and post-16 settings; counter extremism in schools and post-16 settings; out-of-school settings; school safeguarding and guidance on keeping children safe in education; creation of new free schools; maintenance and improvement of the education estate; environmental sustainability in the education sectors; deputising for the Secretary of State for Education in emergencies Paul Waugh Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Early Education Early years education including for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND); childcare and the home learning environment; early years workforce; early communication skills and early intervention; Best Start Family Hubs and parenting; breakfast clubs; school food, including free school meals; holiday activities and food (HAF) programme; school attendance, including register of children who are not in school; reception admissions; changes to existing schools; home-to-school transport; mental health support in schools; behaviour, preventing bullying and exclusions in schools; school uniform; young carers; independent schools; illegal schools; faith schools; intervention in failing schools and school improvement; use of data, digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in education; use of research, science and evidence at DfE
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: 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.Skills Funding Agency, Annual Report and Accounts 2010–11 , accessed 15 April 2017 David Withey was the agency's chief executive.Education and Skills Funding Agency , accessed 4 January 2018 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. In September 2025, Skills England transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions, along with responsibility for apprenticeships, adult further education, skills, training and careers.
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: Non-ministerial departments Ofqual; Ofsted Executive non-departmental public bodies LocatED; Oak National Academy; Office for Students; Office of the Children's Commissioner; Social Work England; Student Loans Company Advisory non-departmental public bodies School Teachers' Review Body Other Office of the Schools Adjudicator
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 SkillsWelsh Government | Education and skills . Wales.gov.uk. Retrieved on 13 August 2013. 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. Department for Education. Retrieved 1 May 2017. The