Sir Jon Coles is Chief Executive of United Learning, a group of over 100 academies and independent schools established 130 years ago.

Jon spent 15 years at the Department for Education and its predecessors, the last four on its Board as Director General for Schools and for Education Standards. He was previously Director of 14-19, leading work to increase participation and attainment in education and training post-16; and Director of London Challenge, developing and implementing the much-copied strategy to improve schools in London.

Jon is Honorary President of Challenge Partners, a charity he co-founded and whose Board he chaired for 10 years, and is a Council Member of King’s College, London. He Chairs the Advisory Board of the Education Policy Institute and is a member of the Royal Society’s Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education. He was knighted in 2019 for services to education.