About

Patrick Watson provides policy intelligence and analysis, with a range of other public affairs services, to clients in the education, skills, training and guidance sectors.

He is managing Director of Montrose Public Affairs Consultants Ltd.

He believes that the best education systems, worldwide, give autonomy to schools to run their own affairs.  Centrally driven interventions should be kept to a minimum, and then only in inverse proportion to success.  Interventions driven by short-term political agendas can be immensely damaging to learners’ interests.  Evidence should inform policy and the system should be demand driven, accountable and transparent with learners’ interests paramount.

Education should not be a state monopoly and there should be mixed service provision, offering a diverse range of service providers from state, profit and not for profit sectors, demand rather than supply driven.

Good teachers and good teaching are at the core of the best education systems.  It is essential to recruit the best, to give them the best training and to reward success.  It is equally important to get rid of those who fail to meet the highest standards and so blight the life opportunities of our young people.

The Government’s role should be limited to maintaining an enabling environment, to allow autonomous schools to thrive, to ensure proper regulation and accountability for both standards and the use of public funds, whilst safeguarding the interests of the most disadvantaged, including,  particularly, those most at risk of exclusion.

e-mal: montrosepw@ntlworld.com