The former education recovery commissioner will be a lead adviser to Labour if it forms the next government.
Tes understands Sir Kevan Collins will be Labour’s expert adviser on higher standards in schools if the party wins next week’s general election.
Sir Kevan was appointed as education recovery commissioner to the Department of Education in February 2021, but quit just four months later after the government fell short of funding his £15 billion pandemic catch-up package.
In his resignation letter, Sir Kevan said that the package of support “falls far short of what is needed” and was “too narrow, too small and will be delivered too slowly”.
The DfE’s programme ultimately included £1 billion to support up to 6 million 15-hour tutoring courses for disadvantaged pupils, as well as an expansion of the 16-19 tuition fund, which will target subjects such as maths and English.
“They just didn’t seem to get the fact that schools are the foundation of a fair and prosperous society,” Sir Kevan later told Tes in an interview, reflecting on his time in the role in March 2024.
Manifesto leaves schools ‘in the dark’ over funding
Sir Kevan has worked in the education sector for over 30 years as a teacher, a director of children’s services and as chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).
His appointment comes after Labour launched its manifesto earlier this month. The party has pledged to hire 6,500 new expert teachers and scrap single-word Ofsted grades if elected to power.
However, Labour, along with all other main election manifestos, has been criticised by the Institute for Fiscal Studies for leaving schools “in the dark” over its funding pledges.
The party has also said that it will require all schools to cooperate with their local authority on school admissions and the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
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