After qualifying as a secondary teacher in 1993 I completed a PhD in the field of education before working in a variety of roles in HE for the last twenty years. This included an eleven year period at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), three years at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and six and a half years at the University of Chester. In this time I worked extensively on undergraduate education studies programmes both at MMU and LJMU and also developed and led several postgraduate programmes including an Economic and Social Research Council-approved Master of Research: Education and Society course at MMU, Master of Research at LJMU, MSc Research Methods and Masters in Teaching and Learning at the University of Chester. My experience as a qualitative researcher and work with postgraduate students (both taught and research-focused) together provided the opportunity for me to undertake a secondment as Director of the Graduate School and Associate Dean of Research at the University of Chester before moving to York St John.