Social Media Training Expanded To More Civil Servants
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson was criticised for collaborating with reality star Gemma Collins in a social media video in May (Alamy)
3 min read
The government is training more officials to film social media content themselves on iPhones as part of a wider Whitehall push to strengthen the government's online messaging and reach audiences beyond traditional media.
The Department for Education is upskilling existing staff in social media and video skills, including rolling out training to private office staff so that they can make social media content themselves when accompanying ministers on visits, rather than having to hire more people onto dedicated social media teams.
The short training includes how to shoot pieces to camera and film using iPhones. Officials in a minister's private office do not usually directly oversee social media communications; instead, they typically manage the minister's time, diary, official paperwork, and departmental policy flow.
A Department for Education source said that training more officials with these skills would mean the department could “reach more of the public where they are”.
“More people are getting their news from social media than ever before,” they said.
“We’re unapologetic about reaching them in an innovative and accessible way with reliable and accurate information, whether it’s about schemes like free breakfast clubs that could ease their childcare costs, or recruitment campaigns to hire the next generation of excellent teachers.
“We’re often criticised in the media as a government for supposedly not having effective communications. This often misses the fragmentation of audiences and the need to flood the zone on many different platforms - and often different ones to where Westminster gets its news.”
This training is part of a wider communications shake-up across government, taking place across different Whitehall departments with support from No.10 and the Cabinet Office.
The Department for Education was the most active government Instagram account behind Downing Street last month, and also posts regular updates its YouTube channel.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson faced backlash in May when she took part in a video collaboration with TV reality personality Gemma Collins.
The Only Way Is Essex star, who has 2.3m Instagram followers, featured in a video where she walked into the DfE offices with the background music from film The Devil Wears Prada. The video also included a conversation between Collins and Phillipson about post-16 education and vocational courses, and was criticised by campaigners advocating for changes to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system who argued it trivialised education during a time of “systemic failure”.
However, Phillipson dismissed the criticism as "outright snobbery and just downright unpleasant", and the department has continued to defend the collaboration.
The department’s Instagram views are growing, and are up by 29 per cent on the previous month. Over 80 per cent of those who viewed the Collins video in the first few days were non-followers of the DfE account, with government sources believing this shows it was effective in reaching new audiences who do not usually engage with the government’s content.
Collins was not paid for the appearance, but the department has overall shifted some of its spending towards influencer marketing, having spent over £700,000 on social media influencers since 2024. According to a government source, £1 on social media reaches many more people than £1 spent on a physical billboard or magazine advert.
PoliticsHome previously reported that the Cabinet Office’s New Media Unit was being restructured to redeploy staff and resources in order to strengthen digital capabilities and expand online messaging across departments.
The reforms also reflect rising concern within the government about the spread of false or inflammatory far-right content on social media and the need to better combat it.
The New Media Unit’s work has included setting up new channels on social media networks such as Reddit, and inviting influencers to receptions in Downing Street and to participate in press conferences alongside traditional journalists.
