The Department for Education’s regional director for the West Midlands has announced that he will retire from the role at the end of the year.
Andrew Warren, who has headed up the West Midlands region for six years, said “it feels like the right time” to depart.
He was previously the department’s regional schools commissioner for the region before the government shake-up of the system in 2022 that resulted in the RSC role being replaced by regional directors
A replacement for the role has not been announced. The DfE said it would make an announcement on recruitment in “due course”.
DfE regional director steps down
Announcing his retirement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Warren said: “This is obviously not a decision that I’ve taken lightly, particularly given the exciting agenda ahead, but it feels like the right time.”
Mr Warren has also been chair of the Teaching Schools Council and he is a founding fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching.
Earlier in his career he worked as a primary school headteacher.
Mr Warren said he was “immensely grateful” for the opportunity of being a regional director role, adding that retirement would give him “time and space to move into a wider portfolio of non-executive roles in the education and charity world”.
He follows the former regional director for the South West, Hannah Woodhouse, who stepped down from her role earlier this year to work for Bristol City Council as executive director for children and education.
The DfE’s nine regional directors have led the decision making for each area of the country since 2022.
These regional directors are each supported by a regional advisory board that holds monthly meetings. The DfE describes the boards as providing a “source of challenge and insight” on academy-related decisions.
Tes’ MAT Tracker provides up-to-date information on the latest decisions from regional advisory board meetings. Find our interactive map of England’s multi-academy trusts by clicking here, where you will also find links to all of our MAT Tracker content
