UK Cabinet reshuffle: education secretary Gavin Williamson sacked

Gavin Williamson has been sacked from his post of education secretary in a reshuffle of the UK government.

His replacement was expected to be named later, with culture secretary Oliver Dowden and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch among those rumoured to be in the running.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr Williamson, who had been heavily criticised for his handling of disruption to schooling and examinations during the coronavirus pandemic, would be offered another ministerial role.

Mr Williamson’s departure after two years in the post comes as universities await the government’s response to the Augar review of post-18 education financing in England, expected to coincide with the comprehensive spending review next month.

A consultation on the reforms – which was originally scheduled for the spring – is yet to emerge, although Mr Williamson told the Universities UK conference last week that ministers were “moving forward” with consulting on introducing minimum entry requirements for access to student loan financing.

Broader reforms designed to shift funding – and students – from higher to further education could potentially include a reduction in the tuition fee cap for degree courses or changes to student loan repayments.

Mr Williamson had billed himself as “tearing up” the target set by former Labour prime minister Tony Blair for 50 per cent of young people to go into higher education, and had sought to boost vocational and technical alternatives.

In a series of farewell tweets, Mr Williamson said that he was “particularly proud” of his achievements on post-16 education, which included the introduction of proposed legislation giving people flexible access to funding for four years of post-school education, including the option to study in shorter segments and part-time.

“This programme will create better life opportunities for pupils and students for many years to come,” Mr Williamson said.

He was also a regular critic of universities on hot button issues such as unconditional offers, grade inflation, and freedom of speech – with a Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill currently working its way through the House of Commons. This would allow individuals to sue for compensation if their free speech rights are breached.

Mr Williamson had also criticised universities for continuing to embrace online lectures after the lifting of most coronavirus restrictions and was instrumental in pushing the sector towards a system of post-qualification admissions, although exact details of the reforms were yet to be firmed up.

Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, said Mr Williamson would be remembered by university staff “as a disastrous secretary of state who caused deep and lasting damage”.

“Rather than responding to the challenges of a global pandemic, he led the charge in a completely pointless culture war against university staff and students; a culture war that was entirely fabricated and led to no positive change in the sector.

“Wasting such an inordinate amount of time just to satisfy the hardcore Tory base underlines just how little he really cares about education.

“The next secretary of state for education has an opportunity to build a new relationship with the staff and students in our universities and colleges, but they must commit to repairing the damage that has been done by Gavin Williamson.”

A reshuffle of more junior ministerial posts – potentially including universities minister Michelle Donelan and science minister Amanda Solloway – was expected later in the week.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com