Fourth DfE regional director to leave within two years

Long-serving regional director Kate Dethridge is set to leave after seven years in post, representing the fourth departure from the team in two years.

The mandarin revealed she has decided to return to working in schools after an advert for her replacement was published this week.

This is the latest in a string of recent changes to the department’s regions group during a time of major policy reform.

The Department for Education has struggled to replace the north west director, even after increasing pay by £25,000.

Dethridge told Schools Week: “I’ve been in the department almost 11 years and I have to say it’s been absolutely fabulous – I’ve loved the job.

“But I suppose I feel like it’s time to go back into the school system I came from and maybe use some of what I learned and go back and support schools and trusts.”

‘Greatest highlights’

Dethridge left a headteacher role in Reading to join the department’s north-west London and south-central team as a deputy director in 2016.

She became a regional schools commissioner (RSC) three years later.

A restructure of the RSC system saw them rebadged as regional directors, with Dethridge responsible for the south east.

“When I was a headteacher I could see the immediate impact of what I did. Then you go to the department, and it isn’t quite so immediate,” Dethridge said.

“And then there might be a school that’s found itself in difficulty – it might have failed an Ofsted – and you partner it up with a trust. To watch that school and the people in it grow and succeed, that is one of the greatest highlights.”

Prior to joining the civil service, she had been a head for 18 years and a national leader of education.

She was made a dame in the 2015 new year’s honours list for services to education.

Dethridge does not yet know what her next job will be when she leaves in April.

A job advert for her replacement said the appointment comes at a “pivotal time” with the new prime minister and education secretary “making clear the importance of an effective place-based approach”.

Candidates have been told to expect to earn between £105,000 and £150,000.

Hard to replace?

It comes after Vicky Beer, DfE’s longest-serving regional director, retired in April.

Schools Week revealed this month that the department has rejected almost 100 applications to replace her. A third recruitment round is currently underway.

In March, former children’s services boss Nigel Minns was named the new regional director for the east Midlands.

Former Mulberry Schools Trust chief executive Vanessa Ogden also took over as the London regional director this year.

A spokesperson for the department said: “DfE has been delighted with such successful recruitment. It doesn’t feel like an upheaval.”

Meanwhile, Tim Coulson was appointed director general of the regions group in September 2025, having been the chief executive of Unity Schools Partnership since 2017.

DfE permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood – the department’s top civil servant – also revealed this week that she will leave. She is due to be replaced by Home Office official Simon Ridley.