King's College London

We’re delighted to announce that Professor Michael Sanders will become the new director of the International School for Government at King’s College London. Here, he reflects on his plans for the direction of the school under his leadership and highlights some of the school’s recent successes.

Next month, Professor Andrew Massey, the founding director of the International School for Government, will retire after a long career in research and education relating to government and its practice. Andrew’s legacy is substantial, not least here at King’s, where he led the establishment of the ISFG since 2018. It is an honour to take over from him as director.

As the school moves into this new era, our mission statement is clear – to help create a world that is governed with intelligence, integrity, and innovation. We will seek to teach government and public administration as it really is, working in partnership with governments to maximise the value and utility of what we teach, while remaining academically rigorous at all times.

As a former official who has worked closely with government throughout my career, I understand as well as anyone the need for the training and education that public servants receive to promote rigorous analysis in government, while relating closely to the real-world challenges that governments face the world over.

There will be time over the coming years to share some of that direction and vision with you, but there are already some exciting changes that we are pleased to be able to announce today.

We're continuing our long-term partnership with the Civil Service Policy Profession Unit (PPU), allowing us to offer further modules to officials across the Civil Service as part of their development, including a major new programme.

New programme for the Civil Service Fast Stream

We're delighted to announce a new programme for the UK Civil Service Government Policy Fast Stream, in partnership with the PPU, which will see every Fast Streamer in the Policy Profession taking 30 credits of modules at King’s.

This will help provide participants with a grounding in the policymaking process, as well as teaching technical skills like economics, evidence-based policy, and lawmaking. This partnership is both a continuation of our long-term relationship with the UK government and a major step up in our delivery for the Civil Service.

New programme for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Following a successful pilot programme earlier this year, we are pleased to be rolling out our new International Development Policy Practitioners Programme with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The IDDP is an online programme, consisting of different modules, each broadening knowledge and capability across key FCDO development themes and priorities, including climate, decolonisation, finance and anti-corruption. The online modules are led by the Policy Institute, as well as cross-faculty experts, bringing a multi-disciplinary approach, and teaching is across multiple timezones to best serve FCDO’s international participants.

Health and Social Care Policy MSc

Finally (for now), we’ve just launched our first open enrolment master’s degree in health and social care policy. This new MSc, delivered in partnership with our colleagues in the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King’s, is a companion to the course we launched this year for the Department of Health and Social Care and will cover topics such as the history of the NHS and social care, health systems management, and health economics. 

Students on the new, open programme will spend some time integrated with the students on the DHSC course, allowing people from around the world, with a range of different backgrounds, to learn from each other. 

These programmes, and more that will be announced over the coming months, reflect our ethos and a school with arms outstretched to better understand and serve our students, our partners, and the governments and citizens they serve.

Whoever you are, I look forward to working with you and for you in the coming years.

Michael Sanders is Professor or Public Policy and Director of the International School for Government at King’s College London.