It seemed an additional dose of political cruelty that Justine Greening’s return to the backbenches came less than a month after she’d finally published her two defining education policy papers - one on social mobility and another on reforms to teacher training and QTS.

On hearing news that Theresa May had finally given Greening the heave, many educationalists’ first thoughts turned to these policies and whether they would survive the arrival of Damian Hinds. After all, the proposals - especially those centered on ensuring that all new teachers should complete at least three years of training, including a two-year induction period working in a school - had proved popular in education circles.

Many believed that creating a two-year structure around plans for an “early career content framework” could go some way to helping ease the retention crisis in the profession.

This wide-ranging group of supporters will be delighted to hear that noises emanating from Sanctuary Buildings suggest that while the status of the social mobility action plan remains anyone’s guess, there is enthusiasm for going ahead with the QTS reforms.

There is one major potential stumbling block, however: money. Without significant investment in the CPD proposed for the new probationary period, the changes would be little more than window-dressing.

And on that issue that ball is very much in the Treasury’s court.

But if Hinds does throw his weight behind the QTS reforms, and does win some money for them, he will go some way to winning over the educational community, which had so quickly become enamoured of Ms Greening.

Ed Dorrell is head of content at Tes. He tweets @Ed_Dorrell

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