‘The real education secretary’

22nd July 2005, 1:00am

Share

‘The real education secretary’

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/real-education-secretary
Sir Cyril Taylor, chairman of the Specialist Schools Trust, is at first glance, an easy man to underestimate. Underneath the jovial exterior is steel. Sir Cyril is one of the smartest operators in the education world and a man who can fairly claim to have changed the face of England’s secondary schools. Not bad for someone who began his career advertising toothpaste.

A former Conservative activist, he was behind the creation of the original 15 city technology colleges in the 1980s and the start of the specialist school movement.But rather than join his party in the wilderness after Labour’s 1997 victory, Sir Cyril used the change of government to expand his empire.

He has seen off eight education secretaries, all the time pushing the specialist revolution while continuing to persuade companies to part with their money. An adviser to the Government on academies, his success is one of the stories of Labour’s time in power. For once, statistics do tell the story. In 1997, there were 240 schools with specialist status. By September, 2,382 out of the 3,400 secondaries will be specialist.

So is Sir Cyril the real education secretary?

Want to keep reading for free?

Register with Tes and you can read two free articles every month plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters.

Keep reading for just £1 per month

You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £1 per month for three months and get:

  • Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content
  • Exclusive subscriber-only stories
  • Award-winning email newsletters
Recent
Most read
Most shared