Jonathan Simons
@jonathansimons.bsky.social
Partner, Public First and Head of Education Practice. Education strategy + policy advisory. Former civil servant + think tanker. Occasional loud LFC. Centrist Dad, so naturally I also have a Substack.
Full blog here, as well as this breakdown of the political dating habits of different party supporters
open.substack.com/pub/publicfi...
open.substack.com/pub/publicfi...
February 13, 2026 at 8:55 AM
Full blog here, as well as this breakdown of the political dating habits of different party supporters
open.substack.com/pub/publicfi...
open.substack.com/pub/publicfi...
Well this is utterly horrifying, from m’learned colleagues at PF
February 13, 2026 at 8:52 AM
Well this is utterly horrifying, from m’learned colleagues at PF
Ed Davey on the Today programme talking Mandelson
February 3, 2026 at 8:15 AM
Ed Davey on the Today programme talking Mandelson
December 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Fascinating straw in the wind. Is this that Reform:
A) has changed its mind - poss driven by its own councils
B) never believed it, was helpful as a dog whistle, but now they need to be serious
C) still believe it, but need to be serious
Which one it is bears relevance for lots of other issues!
A) has changed its mind - poss driven by its own councils
B) never believed it, was helpful as a dog whistle, but now they need to be serious
C) still believe it, but need to be serious
Which one it is bears relevance for lots of other issues!
December 16, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Fascinating straw in the wind. Is this that Reform:
A) has changed its mind - poss driven by its own councils
B) never believed it, was helpful as a dog whistle, but now they need to be serious
C) still believe it, but need to be serious
Which one it is bears relevance for lots of other issues!
A) has changed its mind - poss driven by its own councils
B) never believed it, was helpful as a dog whistle, but now they need to be serious
C) still believe it, but need to be serious
Which one it is bears relevance for lots of other issues!
So look, yes the club may cost you £500k to be a founder member. But you get Chat-Lizzie-T with it
December 13, 2025 at 9:52 AM
So look, yes the club may cost you £500k to be a founder member. But you get Chat-Lizzie-T with it
One of my fav charts - if you exploit the fact that home nations teach fin ed at diff times, and the 2014 introduction in Eng, you can split young ppl (18-30) into whether they were taught it or not at schl and it makes *zero* difference to their current confidence (other than spotting fake terms)
November 29, 2025 at 9:36 AM
One of my fav charts - if you exploit the fact that home nations teach fin ed at diff times, and the 2014 introduction in Eng, you can split young ppl (18-30) into whether they were taught it or not at schl and it makes *zero* difference to their current confidence (other than spotting fake terms)
Also, when I’m abroad, I take photos of universities advertising in cities, and I look up whether they’re private or public provision or franchised, and wonder about their target student base and course offerings and what their marketing conclusions led them to advertise here or be based there
October 13, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Also, when I’m abroad, I take photos of universities advertising in cities, and I look up whether they’re private or public provision or franchised, and wonder about their target student base and course offerings and what their marketing conclusions led them to advertise here or be based there
Britain on verge of civil war: update
August 25, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Britain on verge of civil war: update
That debut was more Coventry Gyokeres than Sporting Gyokeres
August 17, 2025 at 4:52 PM
That debut was more Coventry Gyokeres than Sporting Gyokeres
Of all the terrible AI forced on us, I think Meta AI on Facebook may be the absolute worst
August 16, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Of all the terrible AI forced on us, I think Meta AI on Facebook may be the absolute worst
And people say nothing brings us together any more
August 13, 2025 at 9:19 PM
And people say nothing brings us together any more
A review of Nick Gibb+Rob Peal's new book. I liked it. I am v sure many other people won't. Whether you do or don't like what he did, there's a lot to learn for anyone who cares about how edu policy is made, as well as explaining why Gibb did what he did jonathansimons.substack.com/p/welcome-ba...
August 11, 2025 at 8:36 PM
A review of Nick Gibb+Rob Peal's new book. I liked it. I am v sure many other people won't. Whether you do or don't like what he did, there's a lot to learn for anyone who cares about how edu policy is made, as well as explaining why Gibb did what he did jonathansimons.substack.com/p/welcome-ba...
Wonderfully arch Louvre commentary - the French consul “obtained authorisation” to take part of the Parthenon friezes; others “were taken” by Lord Elgin
July 6, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Wonderfully arch Louvre commentary - the French consul “obtained authorisation” to take part of the Parthenon friezes; others “were taken” by Lord Elgin
Genuinely mind blowing stat in this piece - 24% of the entire UK’s research output in AI is done in partnership with China
June 5, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Genuinely mind blowing stat in this piece - 24% of the entire UK’s research output in AI is done in partnership with China
Almost the same right?
April 27, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Almost the same right?
Have gone away for the weekend but wasn’t sure where to go originally. Chose the place which best met my hierarchy of needs.
April 27, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Have gone away for the weekend but wasn’t sure where to go originally. Chose the place which best met my hierarchy of needs.
WhY dIDnT tHeY JusT rAIsE tAxeS
February 25, 2025 at 4:25 PM
WhY dIDnT tHeY JusT rAIsE tAxeS
Update: my extremely sweet 9yr old son, who I want to say “misunderstands what lunch is” and what I mean is “knows what I like to eat”, has made me crisps and biscuits and chocolate and beer for lunch to make me feel better
January 26, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Update: my extremely sweet 9yr old son, who I want to say “misunderstands what lunch is” and what I mean is “knows what I like to eat”, has made me crisps and biscuits and chocolate and beer for lunch to make me feel better
Have been in worse pubs
December 28, 2024 at 12:14 PM
Have been in worse pubs