Sir Kevan, previously school standards adviser at the Department for Education, has become DfE’s lead non-executive director. The departmental Board has three main responsibilities: to provide strategic and operational leadership to the department; to scrutinise the delivery and performance of policy; and to challenge the department on how well it is achieving its objectives. Sir Kevan, a former teacher, set up the Education Endowment Foundation as its CEO in 2011. He was also the previous government's education recovery commissioner following the Covid pandemic.