Nicholas Tate (schoolmaster)
Edward Nicholas Tate CBE (born 18 December 1943) is an English historian and educationist.
He was headmaster of Winchester College and director general of the International School of Geneva. He has also led national curriculum bodies in England.
Early life
A son of Joseph Edwin Tate and his wife Eva Elsie Hopkinson, Tate was educated at Huddersfield New College, Balliol College, Oxford, where he was a scholar, the University of Bristol, where he gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, and the University of Liverpool, where he graduated PhD in 1985.[1]
Career
Tate began his career as a schoolteacher, later working in teacher training colleges in England and Scotland, and in the world of school examinations boards. In 1989, he joined the National Curriculum Council for England. In 1994, he was appointed as chief executive of the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority and in 1997 of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.[2]
In July 1994, in an article in the Times Educational Supplement, and in a widely reported speech in July 1995, Tate caused a 'great history debate' when he stated that the school curriculum in general, and the history curriculum in particular, did not pay enough attention to national identity. He argued for "a history curriculum which more explicitly introduces pupils to the majority national culture and... makes clear some of its greatest achievements".[3] The speech in 1995 led to an article in The Daily Telegraph headed "Curriculum chief backs Britishness" and one in The Guardian headed "Teach children to be British stirs up a storm".[4]
In August 2000, shortly after leaving his post to return to teaching, Tate pressed his point in The Sunday Times, in an article entitled "They come not to praise England but to bury it". He proposed that education "should include the transmission to the next generation of British values".[5]
From September 2000 to August 2003, Tate was headmaster of Winchester College; then until 2011 he was director general of the International School of Geneva, home of the International Baccalaureate.[1] In 2008, he said of his school "We have 136 nationalities and 86 mother tongues". In one class, every student came from a different country.[6]
From 2011 to 2013, Tate was Chairman of International Education Systems.[1]
In 2014, he was vice-chairman of trustees of the Richmond American University London, [7] and in 2017 became chairman.[8] In 2018 he noted that it was "the only University which offers all students both a UK and US degree".[9] He resigned from this position in August 2019.[10] In 2017, he was also a governor of Aiglon College in Switzerland.[8]
Tate has written books for schools and articles on history and education.[1][2]
Personal life
In 1973, Tate married Nadya Grove, and they have one son and two daughters.[1]
Selected publications
- Pizarro and the Incas (Addison-Wesley Longman, 1981, ISBN 978-0582205475 Search this book on
.) - Countdown to GCSE History (London: Nelson Thornes, 1986, ISBN 978-0333422533 Search this book on .)
- History (GCSE Coursework) (London: Nelson Thornes, 1987, ISBN 978-0333443170 Search this book on .)
- Make the Grade in General Certificate of Secondary Education Modern World History (London: Teach Yourself, 1989, ISBN 978-0340501481 Search this book on .)
- Modern World History, Study Aids: GCSE (London: Teach Yourself, 1989, ISBN 978-0340512739 Search this book on .)
- Teach Yourself Study AIDS: GCSE British Social & Economic History (London: Hodder Arnold, 1991, ISBN 978-0340527078 Search this book on .)
- What is Education for? The view of the great thinkers and their relevance today (John Catt, 2015, ISBN 978-1398384040 Search this book on .)
- The Conservative Case for Education: against the current (New York & Abingdon: Routledge, 2017, ISBN 978-1-138-05551-3 Search this book on .)
Honours
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 2001[1]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Tate, Dr (Edward) Nicholas", Who's Who online edition by Oxford University Press published online 1 December 2007, accessed 3 January 2026 (subscription required)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Nicholas Tate", International Baccalaureate Organization, 27 April 2004, Archive.org, accessed 3 January 2026
- ↑ Martin Roberts, After the Wall: History Teaching in Europe Since 1989 (Hamburg: Körber Foundation, 2004), pp. 27, 40
- ↑ John Beck, "A Nation in Decline: the Limitations of Conservative Cultural Pessimism" in Morality and Citizenship in Education (London: Bloomsbury / Cassell, 1998), pp. 13–15.
- ↑ John Marsh, The Liberal Delusion: The Roots of Our Current Moral Crisis (Arena Books, 2012), pp. 92–93
- ↑ "Best international independent schools", Country Life, 26 December 2008, accessed 4 January 2026
- ↑ "Richmond University Catalogue 2013–2014", p. 236
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "News and Notes", Floreat Domus (Balliol College, Oxford, 2019), p. 3
- ↑ "New President announced for Richmond, The American International University in London", FE News, 25 July 2018, accessed 4 January 2026
- ↑ "Richmond, the American International University in London, Inc. REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, 30 June 2020", Richmond.ac.uk, page 4, accessed 4 January 2026
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Sabben-Clare |
Headmaster of Winchester College 2000–2003 |
Succeeded by Thomas Richard Cookson |
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