Michael Gove’s departure from the Department for Education (DfE) was a surprise to many of his peers - and even to teachers, since most had expected him to stay in office to deliver his controversial reforms. Perhaps unsurprisingly for one of the most divisive ministers in recent memory, the reactions to his departure were varied.

James O’Shaughnessy, a former advisor to David Cameron who now runs Floreat education told the Guardian Mr Gove would one day be seen as “one of the great education secretaries, if not the greatest, in terms of what was achieved”. On the other hand, many teachers were reportedly so pleased at the minister’s departure that website Buzzfeed ran an article compiling social media reports of their reactions, which included singing and dancing. But for a politician with a very clear vision for the future of education, where does Mr Gove’s tenure leave the sector?

Academies and free schools

Rapid expansion of the academy system and free schools, often seen as Mr Gove’s “pet project”, have seen the majority of secondary schools move outside of local authority control. Close to 60 per cent of secondary schools are now academies, while over 300 free schools have either already opened or been approved.

While that level of change may not have been thought of as sustainable, it is unlikely to be reversible without huge political and financial cost. But oversight and the financial management of these institutions will continue to be a major concern for the education sector.

Exams

GCSEs and A-levels were one of the major battlegrounds during Mr Gove’s tenure. After his plans to introduce an English Baccalaureate qualification to replace GCSEs had to be withdrawn, Mr Gove embarked on a massive revamp of the way the qualifications are structured, moving away from coursework and focusing more heavily on final exams at the end of a course. Though Mr Gove said he felt it was vital to improve standards, many teachers still feel that assessing two years of work in a single set of exams is the wrong approach to take. Whether the policy will be reversed or not, campaigners are likely to keep calling for a rethink.

National Curriculum

One of the biggest reforms Mr Gove undertook was to rewrite the National Curriculum, dividing the academic, teaching and business communities - especially in the arts and humanities, where a draft history curriculum which envisioned teaching history in chronological order from the start of school to age 14 was mocked by many critics. But issues such as the greater emphasis on science and technology subjects and plans to introduce topics such as computer languages from an early age will also have long-lasting impacts on schools.

Teachers

It is widely agreed that successive reforms that have taken place in spite of staunch opposition from educators have taken their toll on the teaching profession. Mr Gove received votes of no confidence from several teaching unions during his time in office and was often poorly received at union conferences. Performance-related pay has been just one of the changes to their pay and conditions that have also left many feeling undervalued.

When the announcement came that Mr Gove was being replaced, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers Christine Blower said the minister had “clearly lost the support of the profession and parents for justifiable reasons”. She added that his “search for headlines over speaking to the profession has clearly angered teachers.”

Chris Keates, general secretary of teaching union NASUWT, explained that new education secretary Nicky Morgan will have serious challenges to deal with.

“Ms Morgan inherits a teaching profession on the brink of a recruitment and retention crisis after an unrelenting assault on teachers’ pay, pensions and conditions and their professionalism,” she said. “Teachers are buckling under the pressure of increased workload and the threat of job loss, and morale is at an all-time low.”

Every teacher wants the best possible education for their students, but the profession often found itself locked in a tense stalemate with DfE over what that might entail. However Ms Morgan handles the role she has inherited, there could be work to do to restore morale in the profession.