Mike Tomlinson

Sir Michael John Tomlinson CBE (born 17 October 1942 in Rotherham) is the chair of the Working Group for 14–19 Reform which has been commissioned by the British Government to look into reform of the syllabus and qualifications structure for 14- to 19-year-olds in the English education system.

He passed the 11-plus and attended the Oakwood Technical High School (now the Oakwood Technology College) in Rotherham and Bournemouth Boys' School (a grammar school).

He studied for a BSc in chemistry at the University of Durham before going on to do a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the University of Nottingham, followed by 12 years in the classroom as a science teacher, including some time on secondment to Imperial Chemical Industries as a schools liaison officer in 1977.

He was a chemistry teacher at the Henry Mellish Grammar School (now called Henry Mellish School and Specialist Sports College) on Highbury Road in Bulwell, Nottingham from 1965-9. From 1969-77, he was head of chemistry at Ashby-de-la-Zouch Grammar School (a comprehensive school and now called Ashby School) in Leicestershire.

In 1978 he joined Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools (now Ofsted) and, in this capacity, helped to re-establish the education system in Kuwait following the first Gulf War. In 1989, he became chief inspector (secondary). In November 2000 when Chris Woodhead resigned, he became Chief Inspector of Schools, a post which he held until his retirement in 2002.