Will Bickford Smith, a key architect of the government’s teacher training reforms, has returned to the Department for Education eight months after leaving for a university job.
The Teach First alumnus and founder of Conservative Teachers is once again a schools policy adviser to education secretary Gillian Keegan, leading on school standards, teaching and the curriculum.
Bickford Smith left the role at the end of September last year after around three years in post to become an adviser to the vice-chancellor of the University of Exeter.
His re-appointment to the non-political civil service role follows the departure of several of Keegan’s key advisers.
