In March 2025, news spread across the Internet that a Wahhabi had become the head of the Office of Education Standards in the UK. We have verified the accuracy of such publications.

Information about the appointment of a new head of the UK Education Standards Authority spread across Russian-language social networks on March 14. This position was allegedly taken by Hamid Patel, who in some sources is called a mufti, in others - a Wahhabi, and in others they simply pay attention to his Muslim religion. It is clarified that the department, which is now headed by Patel, is checking schools for compliance with British values. The corresponding posts are accompanied by either a portrait of Patel or a screenshot of a news story that talks about his appointment.

Telegram channels spoke about this Zergulio (2 million views at the time of writing this analysis), “Pozdnyakov 3.0"(406,000), "Dmitry Nicotin" (348,000), "Evil proof"(247,000), "Dmitry Vasilets"(135,000), "Sheikh Tamir" (128,000), "First People's | News"(105,000), etc.

Judging by the screenshots provided by some bloggers, their posts are about Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills) - a government organization that inspects various educational institutions in the UK, from schools and nurseries to further education courses and further education programs. According to BBC British parents often rely on Ofsted ratings when choosing a school for their child. The organization also advises the government on education issues, but, unlike Ministry of Education (Department for Education) does almost no regulation. It is the Ministry that approves National curriculum for public schools, determines educational standards and monitors the implementation of changes.

During their inspections, Ofsted representatives, among other things, actually check, how the school develops pupils' understanding of core British values: democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law, mutual respect and tolerance. This, as follows from the School Inspection Guide, can be facilitated both by the curriculum itself and by classroom hours, discussions, trips or reading additional literature.

The head of Ofsted is traditionally the Chief Inspector of Education, who is appointed by the King. From 2024 this position takes Martin Oliver, his term expires in five years. The organization also has a governing council, whose members (in addition to the chief inspector) are appointed by the Minister of Education. Council members obliged recommend to the chief inspector the main areas of work and ensure the effective performance of his functions.

11 March Ofsted announced, that and. O. Hamid Patel will become chairman of the board from April 1. In this position, he will replace Christine Ryan, who held it for five years, but in November 2024 announced about his imminent resignation. The press release announcing Patel's appointment stressed that he will serve as interim leader of the board until a replacement is found for Ryan. However, he will work only two days a week for no more than five months - it is unlikely that such short-term employment will bring any significant changes to the British education system.

Press release announcing Patel's appointment as interim chair of Ofsted. Source: screenshot gov.uk

Many outlets reporting on Patel's appointment not only missed the fact that he would only be at the helm of Ofsted for five months, but also characterized his background differently. Some defined it as mufti, others - like Muslim with migration roots, third - how Wahhabi or radical Islamist. Judging by information from open sources, Patel is a descendant of migrants from India, but was born and raised in the UK. Since 2010 he heads network of Star Academies schools, where included dozens of educational institutions, including several Islamic schools and one Christian. In 2015, for services to education, Patel was awarded Order of the British Empire, and in 2021 - knighthood. On the Ofsted board he is sitting since 2019. On official websites and on Patel's personal pages in social networks the title “Sir Mufti” is used, but there is no evidence in open sources that he adheres to Wahhabism or other fundamentalist movements in Islam.

Despite Patel's numerous contributions to the field of education, his temporary appointment to a new position caused criticism among parts of British society. She relied primarily on his decisions during his time as headteacher of Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School in Blackburn. For example, it was under Patel that this educational institution became one of the first in the country where female students were encouraged to wear the hijab outside of school. They were also reportedly required to read the Koran at least once a week and were prohibited from bringing stationery containing non-Islamic images (such as photographs of pop stars) to school. In 2010 the school criticized for the visit of Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, known for anti-Semitic statements (Patel explained that he stayed in the school for only 20 minutes, and the students wanted to see him because of his popularity on YouTube).

Information that Patel will now allegedly oversee British education was initially spread in the English-language segment of the social network X, where similar posts received millions of views. In French about it told and MEP François-Xavier Bellamy. According to him, Patel is part of an Islamist project to take over European institutions.

Be the first to have similar news on RuNet published “SVTV News - libertarian media” on March 14 at 05:04 Moscow time, correctly indicating that Patel will take up his position temporarily. A few hours later, pro-Russian blogger Sergei Kolyasnikov (Zergulio) posted in his Telegram channel there was a post where this detail was no longer there. Then only similar publications began to spread, periodically acquiring new details about Patel's affiliation with radical Islam or even about his first decisions as head of Ofsted, although he did not take office until two and a half weeks later.

Thus, Hamid Patel did lead the Ofsted board from April 1, but he was appointed temporarily (for five months) until the organization finds a new chairman. Many of the viral posts also mischaracterize Ofsted's role - it does not approve curricula (they are developed by the Department for Education), but inspects educational institutions and, based on its observations, produces publicly available ratings and advises the government. Inspectors also check how effectively a particular educational institution develops students' understanding of core British values, but this is far from the only or main criterion for inspections.

Cover photo: Jim Osley via Wikimedia Commons