DfE faces backlash over Gemma Collins videos on post-16 education

The Department for Education has drawn criticism for working with reality TV star Gemma Collins to promote post-16 education on social media.

Collins appears in several videos on the department's accounts, including a sit-down interview with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. Critics include people who question the choice of the former Only Way Is Essex star and campaigners who say the government has failed children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Phillipson called some of the negative comments "outright snobbery and just downright unpleasant." She said Collins has a reach "politicians can't reach."

Collins has 2.3 million Instagram followers, far more than the department's 85,000 or Phillipson's 19,000. The department said the collaboration aims to show how it is transforming post-16 education and supporting young people who want high-quality vocational courses. The BBC understands Collins chose to take part to highlight alternatives for young people who do not see university as an option.

In one video, Collins walks into the department's offices to music from The Devil Wears Prada and asks, "Right, what are we doing to help the children?" In another, she discusses vocational courses with Phillipson and mentions her interest in King Richard III. The department said on Instagram that Collins was not paid.

Aimee Bradley, who has three autistic children and runs the campaign group SEND Sanctuary UK, called for an apology. She said some parents are "literally grieving children lost after years of unmet need, school trauma, mental health collapse, and systemic failure." Bradley is awaiting a tribunal over her son's school placement and took part in a recent consultation on changes to SEND support. She described the timing of the videos, one day after the consultation closed, as "honestly sickening."

Amy White, a parent and advocate for children with special needs, said the campaign shows the department is not "reading the room." She said using a reality TV star with no experience supporting children with SEND feels "completely disconnected from the reality families face every single day."

Teacher Russell Clarke said the choice of Collins may be easy to criticise but makes sense if the goal is to reach young people who do not follow the department. He warned that some viewers could take the wrong message from Collins's story of success without formal qualifications.

Phillipson told BBC Radio 5 Live that Collins was keen to stress the importance of trying hard in school, especially in areas where doing well at school is not always seen as a route to a good life. She said the campaign reached families who would not normally hear about vocational options.

Dr Gillian Brooks, a senior lecturer in strategic marketing at King's College London, said the problem is not Collins herself but the department's decision to use an influencer whose public identity is rooted in entertainment rather than education.