LES WALTON CBE
A life in education.
A belief in people.
Teacher. Leader. Author.
Six decades working to give every child the opportunity to flourish.
Chair, Association of Education Advisers
Visiting Professor, University of Sunderland
01 / ABOUT
From the classroom
to the bigger picture.
A Northern perspective.
A lifelong commitment.
Les Walton has spent more than six decades helping people and institutions find a better way forward. Beginning as a history teacher, he went on to lead schools, a local education authority and a further education college before helping shape national education policy.
Entrusted by successive governments, he established and chaired the Young People’s Learning Agency and supported the creation of the Education Funding Agency. He founded or helped establish Schools NorthEast, Northern Education Trust, Northern Education Associates and the Association of Education Advisers.
Today, as Chair of the AoEA and Visiting Professor at the University of Sunderland, his work explores how leadership, professional standards and collaboration can strengthen education systems in the UK and internationally.
Rooted in practice
From headteacher at Norham to Director of Education in North Tyneside.
Working across systems
National policy, institutional change and international collaboration.
Recognised for service
OBE in 1996 and CBE in 2013 for services to education.
“Great advisers don’t arrive with a clipboard, but with knowledge, empathy, experience and the ability to challenge constructively.”
LES WALTON · THE JOURNAL · 23 JUNE 2025
02 / BOOKS
Education, with a different rhythm.
A lifetime of learning and leading, explored through memoir and fiction.
MEMOIR · ROUTLEDGE
Education: The Rock and Roll Years
A Northern perspective on a lifetime of learning, teaching and leading.
Les reflects on the experiences, people and ideas that shaped his life in education, with the independent spirit of the North East at its heart.
Discover the book
FICTION · VANGUARD PRESS
The Chronicles of a Time Travelling Teacher
The Odyssey of Kingston James
A modern principal is thrown back into the 1960s, where his educational ideals collide with a very different world. A novel about memory, identity and what we believe education can be.
Discover the bookALSO IN THE WORKS / The Secret Classroom — forthcoming in 2027.
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
Still curious.
Still questioning.
Music, memory and a life in the North East run through Les’s writing. His books bring a personal perspective to the questions that have shaped his work in education.
03 / ARTICLES
Ideas worth sharing.
Reflections on education, leadership and the communities our schools serve.
01
THE JOURNAL
22 September 2026
Joining the dots to share knowledge for benefit of all
What makes an education system effective? Les explores connection, shared knowledge and leadership across the North East.
02
THE JOURNAL
29 September 2025
How the North East can transform education together
Why lasting improvement depends on trust, local understanding and purposeful collaboration.
03
THE JOURNAL
14 July 2025
We can learn to do much better
A call for education to confront child poverty and give every learner a fairer chance.
From the archive: Les’s Journal interview and early column (PDF)
04 / MEDIA KIT
For the next
conversation.
Biographical information and photographs for journalists, event organisers and education colleagues.
Education system reform · Leadership and professional standards · School improvement · Northern perspectives
Download biography (Word)
