Conor's Commentary

A blog about politics, education, Ireland, culture and travel. I am Conor Ryan, Dublin-born former adviser to Tony Blair and David Blunkett on education. Views expressed on this blog are written in a personal capacity.

Wednesday, 16 May 2018

Five favourite facts and findings

After nearly six years at the Sutton Trust , my reflections on some of the research findings that most interested me and helped to advance...

Tuesday, 20 February 2018

Under review

I have blogged on the PM's post-18 education review for the Sutton Trust and Public Finance . It was 16 months before the 1997 el...

Wednesday, 10 January 2018

Ministerial mobility

I blogged at the Sutton Trust on what the reshuffle means for education and social mobility. Reshuffles are a funny – and brutal – bu...

Thursday, 7 December 2017

Social mobility after Milburn

I've blogged at the Sutton Trust on the aftermath of Alan Milburn's weekend resignation as Social Mobility tsar Anyone who thou...

Thursday, 30 November 2017

Apprenticeships must not simply accredit existing knowledge

I've written this piece for FE Week on a new Sutton Trust apprenticeships report. The government says it wants to see three million ...

Thursday, 28 September 2017

How extending free childcare could harm social mobility

I blogged at the Sutton Trust website and HuffPo on problems with the government's free childcare plans It is nearly twenty years ...

Tuesday, 25 July 2017

Helping the high attainers

This piece appeared in the TES print edition on 14 July 2017. Nearly 20 years ago, as then education secretary David Blunkett’s special ...

Tuesday, 6 June 2017

Evidence of intent

My latest Sutton Trust blog on the evidence behind the parties’ election proposals for education While much of the policy noise of the e...

Thursday, 30 March 2017

Nine to one - not as easy as ABC

I blogged at the Sutton Trust on the dangers of an increasingly complex accountability system Back in 1995, I helped David Blunkett co...

Thursday, 23 February 2017

The data deficit effect

In my latest Sutton Trust blog , how a dearth of data in Scotland propelled a Sutton Trust report onto the front pages. A funny thing ha...

Friday, 20 January 2017

Breaking the class ceiling

I wrote this for the Sutton Trust blog... . Education Secretary Justine Greening recalled yesterday how she’s missed out on a banking ...

Thursday, 13 October 2016

Under advisement

I've blogged about teachers' perceptions of Oxbridge at the Sutton Trust today. What are we to make of the idea that some four i...

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About Me

Conor Ryan: Keynsham, United Kingdom; All posts were written in a personal capacity. Dublin-born in 1963, since May 2018 I have been Director of External Relations at the Office for Students. Previously I was Director of Research and Communications for the Sutton Trust from 2012-18 and I was senior adviser to David Blunkett from 1993-2001 and Tony Blair's senior education adviser from 2005-7. I have also been an independent writer and consultant. I am the author (with Cyril Taylor) of Excellence in Education (David Fulton, 2004)and Freedom from Failure (CPS, 2002); and editor of Bac or Basics (SMF, 2004) and Staying the Course (SMF, 2008), co-editor with Julian Astle of Academies (Centreforum, 2008) and author of Lessons for Life (HTI, 2011). I have also written many articles for the Guardian, Independent, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, Times, Sunday Times, among other publications, and contributed to many radio and TV news programmes in the UK and Ireland. I am a director at a multi-academy trust and a trustee of the National Foundation for Educational Research. All views expressed on this blog are my own and appear in a personal capacity.

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