A headteacher turned adviser to the education secretary will end his secondment to the Department for Education early, he has announced. Andrew O’Neill was appointed as a school policy adviser to Bridget Phillipson in May 2025. His tenure was extended for another 12 months earlier this year, before Phillipson was replaced by Lucy Powell. But O’Neill has decided to bring the secondment to an end and return to All Saints Catholic College, a maintained school in west London. The DfE has decided not to replace him. In a statement, he said: “One of the things I valued most about the secondment was the unusual opportunity it provided to bring sustained, current experience of school leadership directly into the heart of government and to help ensure that policy was informed by the realities facing schools, their staff and the young people they serve.” O’Neill worked on both the schools white paper and the SEND reforms. He said “both represent significant programmes of change, driven by a determination to improve the experience and outcomes of children and young people, and it has been a privilege to help shape them from within government”. ‘Good fortune’ He praised Phillipson, adding it was “genuinely humbling to see at close quarters the extraordinary hard work, dedication and care she brought to the role, and the seriousness with which she approached the responsibility of improving education for children across the country. “I have also had the good fortune to work alongside exceptional ministers, officials, school leaders and colleagues at the department, and I am enormously grateful for their support, challenge and commitment.” O’Neill will become executive headteacher at All Saints, while Paul Walton will continue to lead the day-to-day operational running of the school as headteacher. Amanda Sayers, chair of the school’s governing board, said his secondment “has brought the experience of leading our school, and the realities of life in schools, directly into national education policy. “It is a contribution in which the whole All Saints community has taken enormous pride.” The DfE said Powell and schools minister Georgia Gould engaged regularly across the full school sector and following careful consideration, would not be continue to have the advisory position within the department. A spokesperson said: “Andrew has made an important contribution during his time with us as a school leader, and we would like to thank him for his support throughout his secondment. We wish him every success for the future.”