University of Buckingham’s former Professor of Education Prof Sir Chris Woodhead – 1946 – 2015

23 June 2015

Professor Sir Chris WoodheadProf Sir Chris Woodhead, who was chief inspector of Schools, and a former University of Buckingham Professor of Education, has died.

He had been suffering from Motor Neurone Disease, and, more recently, was diagnosed with cancer. He leaves a wife, Christine, a daughter and three granddaughters.

Sir Chris, who joined the University in 2002 as a Professor of Education, was involved in the setting up of the pioneering PGCE at Buckingham in 2003 and the MEd in 2008.

From 1994 to 2000 he was Chief Inspector of Schools in England and he was Chairman of private education provider Cognita from 2004 to 2013.

Sir Chris, who was knighted for services to education, is associated with support for “traditional teaching methods” and was a radical reformer willing to tackle the failings of the education system. He most prominently identified weaknesses in schools with poor teaching.

He published two books, Class War: The State of British Education and A Desolation of Learning: Is this the education our children deserve?

Sir Chris, a Sunday Times columnist, was a patron of Dignity in Dying and campaigned for an assisted dying law. He had been a keen runner and rock climber prior to his illness.

Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alistair Alcock, said: “Professor Sir Chris Woodhead played a critical part in founding the School of Education here at Buckingham. This concept of a Postgraduate Certificate of Education for training teachers based on practice at the teachers’ schools has now become an accepted part of the Educational scene. In a little over a decade the School of Education has moved from being a start-up maverick to a mainstream educator. That was only possible because of Chris’s pioneering spirit, a spirit that seemed quite unquenched by his prolonged illness. The University and the world of education will miss him.”