Secretary of State for Education

United Kingdom
Secretary of State for Education
United Kingdom; Secretary of State for Education
	Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
	Incumbent; Bridget Phillipson; since 5 July 2024
	Department for Education
Style	Education Secretary; (informal); The Right Honourable; (within the UK and Commonwealth)
Type	Minister of the Crown
Status	Secretary of State
Member of	Cabinet; Privy Council;
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch; (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's Pleasure
Formation	5 February 1857; (as Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education); 12 May 2010:; (as Secretary of State for Education);
First holder	William Cowper-Temple; (as Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education)
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022); (including £86,584 MP salary)
Website	www.gov.uk

The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education.^[3] The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

The office holder works alongside the other Education ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for education, and the work of the secretary of state is also scrutinised by the Education Select Committee.^[4]

The current education secretary is Bridget Phillipson.

Responsibilities

Corresponding to what is generally known as an education minister in many other countries, the education secretary's remit is concerned primarily with England. This includes:

Early years
Children's social care
Teacher recruitment and retention
The national curriculum
School improvement
Academies and free schools
Further education
Apprenticeships and skills
Higher education
Oversight of the departmental coronavirus (COVID-19) response
Oversight of school infrastructure improvement^[5]

History

A committee of the Privy Council was appointed in 1839 to supervise the distribution of certain government grants in the education field.^[6] The members of the committee were the Lord President of the Council, the Secretaries of State, the First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. From 1857 a vice-president was appointed who took responsibility for policy.

On 1 April 1900, the Board of Education Act 1899 abolished the committee and instituted a new board, headed by a president. The members were initially very similar to the old committee and the president of the board was the Lord President of the council; however, from 1902 this ceased to be the case and the president of the board was appointed separately (although the Marquess of Londonderry happened to hold both jobs from 1903 to 1905).

The Education Act 1944 replaced the Board of Education with a new Ministry of Education.

The position of Secretary of State for Education and Science was created in 1964 with the merger of the offices of Minister of Education and the Minister of Science. The postholder oversaw the Department of Education and Science.

From June 1970 to March 1974, this post was held by future prime minister Margaret Thatcher.^[7]

In 1992, the responsibility for science was transferred to Cabinet Office's Office of Public Service, and the department was renamed Department of Education. In 1995 the department merged with the Department of Employment to become the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) and in 2001 the employment functions were transferred to a newly created Department for Work and Pensions, with the DfEE becoming the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). In 2007 under Gordon Brown's new premiership, the DfES was split into two new departments; the Department for Children, Schools and Families, and a Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, under two new secretaries of state.

The ministerial office of the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills was, in late 2009, amalgamated into the new ministerial office of the resurgent politician Peter Mandelson, made a peer and given the title Lord Mandelson as the newly created Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills – itself an amalgamation of the responsibilities of the Secretaries of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Innovation, Universities and Skills. The Secretary of State has remit over higher education policy as well as British business and enterprise.

From 14 July 2016 to 8 January 2018 the post was held by Justine Greening, as her predecessor, Nicky Morgan, was sacked by Theresa May. Greening resigned after rejecting a reshuffle to the Department for Work and Pensions.^[8]

On 7 July 2022, Michelle Donelan became the shortest-serving cabinet member in British history, when she resigned as Education Secretary 35 hours after being appointed.^[9]

List of office holders

Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education (1857–1902)

Colour key (for political parties):
Whig Conservative Liberal

	Term of office		Party
William Cowper	5 February 1857	21 February 1858	Whig	Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Charles Adderley	12 March 1858	11 June 1859	Conservative	Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Robert Lowe	24 June 1859	26 April 1864 (resigned)	Liberal	Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry Bruce	26 April 1864	26 June 1866	Liberal	Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry Bruce	26 April 1864	26 June 1866	Liberal	John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Henry Lowry-Corry	26 June 1866	19 March 1867	Conservative	Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Lord Robert Montagu	19 March 1867	1 December 1868	Conservative	Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Lord Robert Montagu	19 March 1867	1 December 1868	Conservative	Benjamin Disraeli
William Edward Forster	9 December 1868	17 February 1874	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
Viscount Sandon	2 March 1874	4 April 1878	Conservative	Benjamin Disraeli
Lord George Hamilton	4 April 1878	21 April 1880	Conservative	Benjamin Disraeli
A. J. Mundella	3 May 1880	9 June 1885	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
Edward Stanhope	24 June 1885	17 September 1885	Conservative	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Henry Holland, 1st Viscount Knutsford	17 September 1885	28 January 1886	Conservative	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair	13 February 1886	20 July 1886	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
Henry Holland	3 August 1886	25 January 1887	Conservative	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
William Hart Dyke	25 January 1887	11 August 1892	Conservative	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Arthur Dyke Acland	25 August 1892	21 June 1895	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
Arthur Dyke Acland	25 August 1892	21 June 1895	Liberal	Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
John Eldon Gorst	4 July 1895	8 August 1902	Conservative	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (Unionist Coalition)

President of the Board of Education (1900–1944)

Colour key (for political parties):
Liberal Unionist Conservative Liberal Labour National Labour

	Term of office		Party
Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire (also Lord President of the Council)	3 March 1900^[10]	8 August 1902	Liberal Unionist	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (Unionist Coalition)
Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry (also Lord President of the Council)	11 August 1902	4 December 1905	Conservative	Arthur Balfour (Unionist Coalition)
Augustine Birrell	10 December 1905	23 January 1907	Liberal	Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Reginald McKenna	23 January 1907	12 April 1908	Liberal	Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Walter Runciman	12 April 1908	23 October 1911	Liberal	H. H. Asquith
Jack Pease	23 October 1911	25 May 1915	Liberal	H. H. Asquith
Arthur Henderson	25 May 1915	18 August 1916	Labour	H. H. Asquith (Coalition)
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe	18 August 1916	10 December 1916	Liberal	H. H. Asquith (Coalition)
Herbert Fisher	10 December 1916	19 October 1922	Liberal	David Lloyd George (Coalition)
Edward Wood	24 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Bonar Law
Edward Wood	24 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Stanley Baldwin
Charles Trevelyan	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald
Eustace Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Newcastle	6 November 1924	4 June 1929	Conservative	Stanley Baldwin
Charles Trevelyan	7 June 1929	2 March 1931 (resigned)	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald
Hastings Lees-Smith	2 March 1931	24 August 1931	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald
Donald Maclean	25 August 1931	15 June 1932 (died in office)	Liberal	Ramsay MacDonald (1st & 2nd National Min.)
Edward Wood, Lord Irwin (Viscount Halifax from 1934)	15 June 1932	7 June 1935	Conservative	Ramsay MacDonald (1st & 2nd National Min.)
Oliver Stanley	7 June 1935	28 May 1937	Conservative	Stanley Baldwin (3rd National Min.)
James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope	28 May 1937	27 October 1938	Conservative	Neville Chamberlain (4th National Min; War Coalition)
Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr	27 October 1938	3 April 1940	National Labour	Neville Chamberlain (4th National Min; War Coalition)
Herwald Ramsbotham	3 April 1940	20 July 1941	Conservative	Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
R. A. Butler	20 July 1941	10 August 1944	Conservative	Winston Churchill (War Coalition)

Minister of Education (1944–1964)

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative Labour

	Term of office		Party
R. A. Butler^[11]	10 August 1944	25 May 1945	Conservative	Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
Richard Law	25 May 1945	26 July 1945	Conservative	Winston Churchill (Caretaker Min.)
Ellen Wilkinson	3 August 1945	6 February 1947 (died in office)	Labour	Clement Attlee
George Tomlinson	10 February 1947	26 October 1951	Labour	Clement Attlee
Florence Horsbrugh	2 November 1951	18 October 1954	Conservative	Winston Churchill
David Eccles	18 October 1954	13 January 1957	Conservative	Winston Churchill
David Eccles	18 October 1954	13 January 1957	Conservative	Anthony Eden
Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone	13 January 1957	17 September 1957	Conservative	Harold Macmillan
Geoffrey Lloyd	17 September 1957	14 October 1959	Conservative
David Eccles	14 October 1959	13 July 1962	Conservative
Edward Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth	13 July 1962	1 April 1964	Conservative
Edward Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth	13 July 1962	1 April 1964	Conservative	Alec Douglas-Home