David Bell (British civil servant)

Sir David Robert Bell KCB (born March 1959 in Glasgow) is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading. He was previously Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education and its predecessor departments from 3 January 2006 until 2012. Before that he was Chief Inspector of Schools at the Office for Standards in Education from 2002.

Bell studied history and philosophy at Glasgow University and obtained his PGCE from Jordanhill College of Education. He also has a Master of Education degree in management and administration from Glasgow University. Bell then held teaching posts at primary schools in Glasgow, moving on to become a deputy head, and then a headteacher at Kingston Primary School, in Thundersley, Essex.

In 1990, Bell became assistant director of education at Newcastle City Council. During this time he spent a year as a Harkness Fellow at Georgia State University, Atlanta, studying education and local government reform across the United States of America. Bell trained as an Ofsted team inspector in 1993. He became a Registered Inspector in 1994 and carried out inspections in primary schools. He was promoted to director of education and libraries at Newcastle City Council in 1995 and became chief executive of Bedfordshire County Council in 2000.

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