Is Hamid Patel the New In-Charge of Education Dept in England? A Fact-Check

Patel was actually appointed as the interim chair of Ofsted, a non-ministerial department.

Fact-Check | The claim of Hamid Patel becoming the new incharge of education department in UK is misleading.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

An image of a religious school leader named Hamid Patel is being shared on social media users identifying him as the new in-charge of the "education department of England."

Who shared it?: An X (formerly Twitter) premium user called Mr Sinha, who has been previously called out for spreading misinformation, shared the image with the same claim.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

This above post had garnered over five million views on the platform. More archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.

What are the facts?: Patel has been appointed as the interim Chair of Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted). It should be noted that the Ofsted is a non-ministerial department.

• However, the Secretary of State for Education is Bridget Phillipson. This makes the claim misleading.

How did we find that out?: We conducted a keyword search on Google and found a release shared on the official website of the Government of the United Kingdom.

• It was shared by Ofsted and said that Patel will serve for a period of up to five months until the appointment of a new substantive chair.

• He had also been serving as a board member since 2019.

• It further said Dame Christine, the incumbent Chair, will step down by the end of March.

The release was shared on 11 March 2025.

(Source: UK Govt website/Screenshot)

What is Ofsted?: The body inspects services that provide education and skills "for learners of all ages". While it is a non-ministerial department, it reports directly to Parliament.

• As per a BBC report, a lot of parents and people rely on Ofsted ratings to choose a school for their child. The body also inspects some independent schools in England.

The information is available on the official govt website.

(Source: UK Govt website/Screenshot)

Department for Education (DfE) in England: The DfE is responsible for education including schools, higher, and further education policy in England.

• The current Secretary of State for Education is MP Bridget Phillipson.

• The department works with 18 agencies and public bodies. It also works with two non-ministerial department namely — Ofqual and Ofsted.

There are two non-ministerial departments working with the DfE.

(Source: UK Govt/Screenshot)

Conclusion: It is evident that the claim of Patel being the new in-charge of the education department in England is misleading.

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