'I look forward to assisting the transformation of secondary education'

David Hopkins will put his experience to good use when he swaps Whitehall for the lecture halls in May

One of the Government's chief academic advisers will swap the corridors of Whitehall for lecture halls and seminar rooms after the general election.

David Hopkins was appointed director of the Standards and Effectiveness Unit at the Department for Education and Skills in 2002, with responsibility for advising the Government about raising performance in the classroom.

In May, Professor Hopkins will take up the University of London Institute of Education's first HSBC iNet chair of international leadership in education.

"I look forward to using my experience in my new role working with the Specialist Schools Trust and iNet to assist the transformation of secondary education in this country and internationally," he said.

Professor Hopkins was the chief adviser on school standards to Estelle Morris, Charles Clark, and Mr Clark's successor as Education Secretary Ruth Kelly.

After studying for an undergraduate degree at Reading University and a PGCE at Bangor University, Professor Hopkins began his career as an instructor for the Canadian Outward Bound Mountain School. He returned to the UK in 1983 to lecture at the West Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education and the Cambridge Institute of Education, before joining Nottingham University in 1996. He is the author of more than 30 books.

At the institute, based in central London, Professor Hopkins will conduct research into school leadership and approaches to learning in different countries.

Paul Hill