David Bell

Who is David Bell?

Sir David Robert Bell KCB is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading. He was previously Permanent Secretary at the British Department for Education from 3 January 2006 and before that he was Chief Inspector of Schools at the Office for Standards in Education. He had previously been Permanent Secretary at its predecessor departments, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Education and Skills.

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 he 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.