Sir Michael Wilshaw
Founder of Headline Consulting
Former HM Chief Inspector of Education, transformational headteacher, and founder of Headline Consulting.
Four Decades of Leadership
Known for an unwavering commitment to improving standards as a teacher, headteacher, Director of Education and as Ofsted's Chief Inspector, Sir Michael has helped to improve the lives of many generations of young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
As Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, Children's Services and Skills, between 2012 and 2016, Sir Michael was responsible for all of Ofsted's inspection and regulatory work in England, using the full range of inspection findings to report on the quality of education and care both locally and nationally. He was responsible to Parliament for the organisation, staffing and management of one of the largest inspectorates in the developed world.
By introducing more demanding inspection frameworks, Sir Michael was pleased at the end of his tenure, to report that nearly two million more children and young people were being educated in good and outstanding schools than when he took up his position in 2012.
Previous to his appointment as HMCI, Sir Michael had been a very successful head teacher of several schools in Inner London. He became particularly well known for Mossbourne Academy in Hackney, East London, where he transformed one of the worst schools in Britain into one of the best, sending large numbers of children to top universities including Oxford and Cambridge.
Between 2007 and 2012, whilst still Principal of Mossbourne Academy, Sir Michael was appointed as the part-time Director of Education at ARK Schools, one of the largest and most successful Multi-Academy Trusts in England. In this role, Sir Michael was responsible for standards in all of the constituent academies within the Trust.
Sir Michael has held a number of senior advisory positions to the UK Government and also to education ministries abroad including those of Brazil, Nepal, Sri-Lanka, Australia and New Zealand.
He has been a Trustee of the Prince of Wales' Teaching Institute and a member of the National Advisory Group for the Children's Plan and for London Challenge. He is presently a board member of the Education Endowment Fund and the Education Policy Institute, two leading education advisory bodies and think-tanks.
Sir Michael is an Honorary Doctor at the Universities of Greenwich and East London, a Fellow of Birkbeck College, London University, and a Freeman of the City of London. He is also a board member of the Education Policy Institute, one of the country's leading education think-tanks and research bodies.
He was appointed as Professor of Education at St Mary's University in London in 2017.
In 2000, he was knighted by the Queen for Services to Education.
Experience
Professor of Education, St Mary's University, London
Senior Advisor to GEMS International Schools. Trustee of The Education Policy Institute. Board Member of the EEF (The Education Endowment Fund). Principal Advisor to the Lyceum Group of Schools in Sri Lanka.
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, Children's Services and Skills
Responsible for Ofsted's inspection and regulatory work, reporting on the quality of education, children's services and skills locally and nationally, and accountable to Parliament for the organization, staffing and management of Ofsted. By the end of his tenure, nearly 2 million more children were being educated in Good and Outstanding schools than when he took up the position in 2012.
Director of Education, ARK Schools
Responsible for standards across all constituent academies in one of the largest and most successful multi-academy trusts in England.
Principal of Mossbourne Community Academy, Hackney, London
Opened one of England's first academies on the site of the infamous Hackney Downs school, closed in 1995 after a series of critical inspection reports. Transformed Britain's worst-performing school into one of the best, with several Outstanding judgements from Ofsted, and ensured significant numbers of young people from modest and poor backgrounds progressed to the best universities in the country, including Oxbridge.
Headteacher of St Bonaventure's RC School, Forest Gate, London
Transformed a large, failing inner-city comprehensive into an Outstanding one, with a national reputation for improving the life-chances of Afro-Caribbean boys.