Simon Ridley has been appointed the next permanent secretary of the Department for Education, taking over from Susan Acland-Hood when he starts in November. The change places a senior Home Office official at the head of the department responsible for education and children’s services in England, while Acland-Hood prepares to leave government for a role outside it.
The appointment was made by Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo with the Prime Minister’s approval. The announcement describes it as a managed move, agreed by the Prime Minister and Education Secretary Lucy Powell in consultation with the First Civil Service Commissioner. It is an appointment decision, not an indication that Ridley has already begun leading the department: his start is planned for November.
A move between major departments
Ridley is currently the Home Office’s second permanent secretary. He has also served twice as acting permanent secretary there and led the Cabinet Office’s COVID-19 Taskforce. His earlier senior roles include work at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and HM Treasury. The range gives him experience across domestic policy, central government coordination and operational leadership, although those roles do not in themselves establish what his priorities at the education department will be.
The Home Office role has included leadership of the migration and borders system, according to accounts of his career. His move therefore brings a senior official from a department with a different operational focus into a post spanning schools, further and higher education, children’s social care and skills policy. The appointment announcement does not set out a new policy programme or identify specific changes Ridley will make. Powell has said she looks forward to working with him on the government’s existing agenda, describing his experience and record of delivery as relevant to that work.
Ridley said his focus would be on ensuring children and young people have the best start in life and the opportunity to succeed. He also referred to working with departmental staff and leaders and practitioners across the country. Those remarks state his broad intention on taking up the post; they are not a detailed set of commitments or measurable targets.
Acland-Hood’s six years in the role
Acland-Hood has led the department since 2020 and is leaving for a role outside government. Her departure ends a six-year tenure at the top of the civil service department. She said it had been a privilege to lead it and expressed confidence that colleagues would continue work across education and children’s social care under her successor. The nature of her next role has not been specified in the announcement.
During Acland-Hood’s tenure, the department worked through the pandemic period and subsequent recovery, alongside policy areas including childcare provision and skills. Powell credited her leadership in those areas. That acknowledgement describes the government’s assessment of her contribution; it should not be read as an independent evaluation of outcomes or as evidence that all parts of the education system have improved.
The transition is also a change in senior stewardship rather than an announced restructuring of the department. There is no published handover timetable beyond Ridley’s November start, and no successor has been named for his current Home Office post in the appointment notice. Until he takes up the position, Acland-Hood remains the department’s permanent secretary.
What the appointment does—and does not—signal
Permanent secretaries are the most senior civil servants in their departments, responsible for leading the organisation and supporting ministers in delivering policy. Their role is distinct from that of the elected government: this appointment does not itself change education law, funding or the government’s stated priorities. Any future policy changes would require separate decisions and announcements.
The immediate significance is the planned transfer of leadership between two experienced senior officials. Ridley will enter the post with experience in central government and the Home Office, while Acland-Hood’s departure closes a long period of leadership at the education department. The practical test will come after November, when the new permanent secretary begins working with ministers, departmental teams and education leaders on the responsibilities already facing the department.
