Department for Education Science Advisory Council
Provides independent advice to the Department for Education to maximise the quality of scientific research informing policy development and delivery.
Role
The role of the Department for Education Science Advisory Council (DfE SAC) is to support the Department for Education Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) in providing independent scientific advice to the Department for Education on matters relevant to its policy and operations.
Established in 2024, the Department for Education Science Advisory Council is formed of up to 12 independent experts.
Membership
- Professor Dame Athene Donald, DBE, FRS (chair), Professor Emerita of Experimental Physics and Former Master of Churchill College, University of Cambridge
- Professor Mark Mon-Williams (deputy chair), Chair of Cognitive Psychology, University of Leeds
- Professor Chris Bonell, Professor of Public Health & Sociology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Professor William J. Browne, Professor of Statistics and Head of the School of Education, University of Bristol
- Professor Claire Crawford, Professor at the Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, University College London
- Michael Cribb, Chartered Structural Engineer and Associate Director, Arup
- Professor Dougal Hargreaves, Professor of Paediatrics and Population Health, Imperial College London.
- Dr Sonya Krutikova, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Manchester, and Deputy Research Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies
- Professor Rose Luckin, FRSA, Professor Emerita of Learner Centred Design at University College London
- Dr Amy Orben, Programme Leader of the Digital Mental Health Research Programme, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
- Professor Paul Ramchandani, LEGO Professor of Play in Education, Learning and Development, University of Cambridge
- Professor Michael J. Reiss, Professor of Science Education at the Institute of Education, University of London and University College London
SAC meetings are attended by the Department for Education Chief Scientific Adviser and other officials as required.
Members of the SAC must declare any significant political activity, and this is detailed in the register of interest, which will be published in due course.
Terms of reference
The DfE SAC operates in accordance with the Government Office for Science’s Code of Practice on Scientific Advisory Committees. The DfE SAC terms of reference will be added along with meeting minutes and outputs from the group.