Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker focuses on how education policy and politics shape what happens in classrooms and families long after a reform is announced. He is editor of national education newspaper Schools Week, leading coverage of schools in England with a brief that spans Westminster and Whitehall, funding, unions and children’s rights.
SATs shape pupils’ experience of education for years to come
Whittaker’s reporting on assessment reflects a preoccupation with the long shadow of policy decisions on pupils’ lives, not just test scores or league tables. In his coverage of SATs, he explores how accountability regimes influence the curriculum, teaching time and pupils’ experience of primary education over multiple years, rather than treating tests as a one-off event. His political background means stories about assessment sit in the context of ministerial priorities, opposition positioning and the pressures faced by school leaders when policies made in Westminster land in classrooms.
Schools buy families bedding and microwaves as poverty bites
Whittaker regularly reports on the intersection of education and poverty, including stories of schools stepping in to provide basic household items to families. That work connects school funding debates with concrete examples of hardship, showing how budget constraints and policy decisions translate into pastoral support, welfare-style interventions and pressure on staff to meet needs far beyond teaching.
His coverage of industrial relations and school funding sits alongside this, tracing how pay disputes, union action and government settlements affect the capacity of schools to respond when poverty bites.
Politics, policy and the schools sector
Whittaker has been writing about education policy for over a decade, with a sustained focus on schools and the broader public policy environment around them. He joined FE Week in 2014 and moved to the Schools Week team the following year, becoming its political reporter in 2016, chief reporter in 2017, deputy editor in 2022 and editor in 2026.
Throughout that progression he has specialised in politics and policy, covering Westminster and Whitehall, industrial relations, school funding and children’s rights as core strands of his beat.
Earlier in his career he reported on public policy, local government and education for regional newspapers, giving him experience of how national decisions play out in local authorities and communities. That background feeds into his schools coverage, which treats academies, trusts and maintained schools as part of a wider system shaped by government priorities, regulatory frameworks and council decisions.
He is also a regular contributor on education policy and political issues for the New Statesman, extending his analysis beyond the schools sector to wider debates about public services and government strategy.
The next chapter: Freddie Whittaker interviews Bridget Phillipson
Whittaker’s role includes presenting the Schools Week podcast, where he interviews key figures about the direction of education policy. In an episode titled “The next chapter”, he spoke with education secretary Bridget Phillipson about her plans for the future of education following a change of government.
Other podcast episodes have seen him host discussions on the last decade of education policymaking, drawing out how successive reforms have reshaped the schools landscape.
Across print and audio, his work combines reporting on immediate developments with questions about long-term impact, often returning to themes of funding, accountability, workforce relations and the experiences of disadvantaged pupils. Communications teams pitching to Whittaker can expect interest in stories that illuminate the real-world consequences of policy decisions, show how schools are responding to systemic pressures, or shed light on the politics behind the next chapter for the sector.
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Ajit Niranjan
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Albert Tait
Albert Tait is Education Editor at The Telegraph, leading coverage of schools and universities as institutions whose decisions have direct consequences for staff and students. He focuses on how regulators, senior leaders and governing bodies respond when safety, standards or integrity are under scrutiny, and how those responses affect classrooms and lecture halls. His work links school inspections and teacher safety to regulatory frameworks and conditions on the ground, and he reports on incidents such as knife attacks and “Code Red” alerts with attention to immediate impact and emergency protocols. He produces multi-part investigations into university governance, including extensive reporting on Cambridge’s handling of Jason Arday’s appointment and resignation. He also covers curriculum debates such as changes in how scientists view evolution and inheritance. He began at The Telegraph as a news reporter and previously covered community news at a local paper.
Beth Kennedy
Beth Kennedy is editor at The PIE News and stands out for reporting on how UK policy, institutional strategy and new delivery models reshape international education. Her beat covers UK study visa rules, international student flows, Home Office and UCAS data, alternative study pathways, language schools, and mergers and acquisitions across the sector. She reports on the practical effects of visa changes, scholarship schemes, online and transnational education, school closures, job losses and sector consolidation. Her work is direct and data-led, with clear explanations of complex systems and a focus on what policy and market shifts mean for universities, language schools and private training organisations. She has over a decade in specialist media, including years reporting for primary healthcare professionals before joining The PIE in 2024.
Callum Clark
Callum Clark is a multimedia journalist at STV News who covers education through the lens of university finances, restructuring and their impact on students, staff and local services. He focuses on stories where cost‑saving plans, job losses and service closures reshape community life, such as Dundee University’s nursery and botanic garden closures, and sets those decisions within wider restructuring efforts. His reporting is direct and fact driven, built on official documents, statements and precise figures that show both the scale of savings targets and monthly losses, and the number of posts at risk. Clark’s background in local news and public service coverage, including mental health service reforms and redundancy schemes, shapes a methodical style that tracks formal processes while keeping the lived experience of workers, families and service users in view.