 She began work for the Department for Education and Skills in 1972, and between 1984 and 1993 worked as an Assistant Secretary in the Department for Education dealing with Research Council funding.From 1993 to 1998 she was on loan from the Department for Education working for the Office of Science and Technology, reporting to first William Stewart and then to Sir John Cadogan.In 1999 she returned to the Department for Education, now the Department for Education and Employment, and became Director of School Organisation and Funding.