# Ralph Tabberer > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ralph_Tabberer > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ralph_Tabberer.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Tabberer > Source revision: 1323357294 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British educationalist}} {{Multiple issues| {{Notability|1=Biographies|date=May 2025}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2025}} }} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} '''Ralph Edwin Tabberer''' [CB](/source/Order_of_the_Bath) (born 5 August 1954 in [Romford](/source/Romford)) was the Director General of Schools in the UK government department, the [Department for Children, Schools and Families](/source/Department_for_Children%2C_Schools_and_Families). He held the position from March 2006 until March 2009. ==Early life== He attended [Plymouth College](/source/Plymouth_College) and then [Gonville and Caius College](/source/Gonville_and_Caius_College), Cambridge University, gaining a [MA](/source/Master_of_Arts) in Economics, Social and Political Science in 1976. He gained a [PGCE](/source/Postgraduate_Certificate_in_Education) from [Brunel University](/source/Brunel_University) in 1977. ==Career== Tabberer worked as a teacher in [Hillingdon](/source/London_Borough_of_Hillingdon) [LEA](/source/Local_Education_Authority), then in research and in government IT programmes, including [MEP](/source/Microelectronics_Education_Programme) and [MESU](/source/Microelectronics_Education_Support_Unit), before moving into education administration in 1989. He worked for almost 10 years at the [National Foundation for Educational Research](/source/National_Foundation_for_Educational_Research). He first joined the [Department for Education and Skills](/source/Department_for_Education_and_Skills_(United_Kingdom)) (DfES, later renamed the DCSF) in 1997 where he worked with Professor Sir Michael Barber in the School Effectiveness Unit. He was Head of the [National Grid for Learning](/source/National_Grid_for_Learning) from 1999 to 2000. From February 2000 – March 2006, he was Chief Executive of the TTA (Teacher Training Agency), which became the TDA (Training and Development Agency for Schools) in March 2005. His leadership coincided with a very successful period in teacher recruitment and teacher training, as the government turned round historically low performance. Tabberer left his position as Director General of Schools at the DCSF some months after the death of his wife, Helen. To nurse her, he had partly left in May 2008, being replaced by Jon Coles. He became Chief Schools Officer and Chief Operating Officer at [GEMS Education](/source/GEMS_Education), the worldwide education conglomerate headquartered in [Dubai](/source/Dubai), in March 2009. In January 2012, he left to set up his own series of businesses, under the collective name of BBD Education. He sold BBD Education in 2022, but has retained his UK businesses and continues in a full-time role in International Education. ==Recognition== In the [2009 New Years Honours](/source/New_Year_Honours_2009), he was honoured by The Queen with the award of a Companion of the Most Honourable [Order of the Bath](/source/Order_of_the_Bath) (CB). He was awarded an Honorary Degree from the [University of East London](/source/University_of_East_London) in 2000,{{cite web|url= http://www.uel.ac.uk/vcg/internal/index.htm|title= Vice Chancellor's Newsletter}} and he is a visiting professor at both the University of London Institute of Education and the University of Warwick. ==Personal life== He has a daughter, named Holly, and a son, Joseph. He has three stepsons and two stepdaughters by his previous marriage. When in England, he has lived in [Farnham](/source/Farnham), [Southwell](/source/Southwell_Rural_District) and now in [Royal Leamington Spa](/source/Royal_Leamington_Spa). ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/569506.stm Announcement in December 1999 of becoming Head of the TTA] * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/forum/1162261.stm Teacher training at the BBC in February 2001] * [http://www.ncee.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Improving-Teacher-Training-Provision.pdf Improving Teacher Training Provision in England] {{DEFAULTSORT:Tabberer, Ralph}} Category:1954 births Category:Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Category:Alumni of Brunel University London Category:British educational theorists Category:Civil servants in the Department for Children, Schools and Families Category:Schoolteachers from London Category:People from Romford Category:Living people Category:People educated at Plymouth College Category:GEMS Education schools --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ralph Tabberer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Tabberer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Tabberer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.