Media enquiries

Contact information for the Department for Education’s media team.

DfE media team

Journalists should call our central newsdesk on 020 7783 8300. This media-only line operates from Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm. Outside of these hours the number will divert to the duty media officer.

Members of the public should call our general enquiries line on 0370 000 2288.

Read our Education in the media blog.

Deputy Director, News and Corporate Communications

Michael Goldstein

Deputy Head of News

Jayne Roberts

The Rebuttals Team

Chief Media Officer

Mike Murphy-Pyle

Senior Media Officer

Aaron Shardey

Media officers

Elise Bell
Sophie Hood

Schools desk

Government policy on:

  • schools (including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools, academies and multi-academy trusts, faith and independent schools)
  • education recovery including tutoring and summer schools
  • recruitment and retention of teachers and school leaders
  • Teaching Regulation Agency
  • school funding
  • behaviour
  • period products
  • curriculum and qualifications (including links with Ofqual)
  • Standards and Testing Agency and primary assessment
  • school accountability and inspection (including links with Ofsted)
  • careers education, information and guidance including the Careers and Enterprise Company
  • home education and supplementary schools
  • counter extremism and integration in schools

Chief Media Officer

Sam Glanz

Senior Media Officers

Josh Kaye
Holly Manj
Monica Wilson

Media Officers

Rachael Langley
Justina Crabtree

Safety and wellbeing (early years, special educational needs and disability (SEND), vulnerable and disadvantaged children)

Government policy on:

  • free school meals, Holiday Activities and Food programme and breakfast clubs
  • Pupil Premium
  • children’s social services
  • social care, child protection and social work policy
  • early years education and childcare policy
  • SEND policy
  • exclusions and alternative provision
  • school sport
  • mental health, wellbeing, bullying
  • Opportunity Areas programme
  • relationships, sex and health education
  • personal, social, health and economic education

Chief Media Officer

Amy Taylor

Senior Media Officer

Lauren Carpenter

Officers

Sarrah Qureshi
Alice Parker
Maeve McAlister (maternity leave until autumn 2021)

Opportunity Areas Communications Manager

Lesley Richardson

Further education, skills and apprenticeships desk

Government policy on:

  • technical education and skills including T Levels and qualifications review
  • apprenticeships including traineeships
  • further education workforce
  • strategy for post-16 education (jointly with Minister of State for Universities)
  • further education provider market including quality and improvement and further education efficiency
  • adult education, including the National Retraining Scheme and basic skills
  • Institutes of Technology and National Colleges
  • reducing the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training

Chief Media Officer

Eva Perkins

Senior Media Officer

Holly Eastman

Media Officer

Ella Willis

Universities and higher education desk

Government policy on universities and higher education including:

  • higher education student finance
  • widening participation in higher education
  • quality of higher education
  • international education

Chief Media Officer

Rebecca Tyers

Senior Media Officer

Stephen Donnelly

Media Officer

Connor Dorrell-Shepherd

Strategy and Planning Lead

Russell Neilson

Strategic Communications Planning Manager

Sima Parmar

Strategic Communications Planning Officer

Sophie Burke

Executive agencies

DfE’s media team handles media enquiries on behalf of our executive agencies:

Non-departmental public bodies

If you have a specific enquiry about a policy that is managed by a non-departmental public body, you should contact the relevant body’s press office.

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