Ben Slade

In August 2019 SkillForce ceased trading due to insufficient funding linked to Brexit uncertainties and the schools funding crisis.

On 1 March 2017, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, launched The Prince William Award, Slade's brainchild developed in partnership with colleagues, Headteachers, Transforming Education and the University of Birmingham It was designed to be delivered by education charity SkillForce in schools across England, Scotland and Wales from September 2017. The Prince William Award was the first character and resilience award programme for 6 – 14-year olds and it was the only award programme of its kind to bear the prince's name.

In 2015, Slade was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the military ethos education charity SkillForce. Their strap-line, "heroes in schools transforming lives", encapsulated their dual mission, namely to recruit veterans from the British Army, the British Navy and the RAF to work as mentors and instructors in schools to inspire young people – particularly the hardest to reach - to develop their confidence, resilience and essential skills for life.

Slade has made regular contributions to both print and broadcast media on a wide range of educational issues. Furthermore, he has been involved in several pilots for Twofour and Maverick Television including "The Headmaster's Office", "The Drugs Education Show" and he narrowly missed out on being the featured headteacher and school for the original "Educating Essex" series directed by David Clews and featuring Vic Goddard and the students and staff of Passmore's Academy. He also contributed to Channel 5's "50 Greatest Kids TV Shows" (2013) and to a number of other media productions, most recently a radio documentary for BBC Radio Wales with Russell T. Davies and Tim Vincent.

In 2012 Slade was appointed by Sir Chris Woodhead to the role of Executive Headteacher with Cognita the largest independent school group in the UK now owned by Jacobs Holding. Slade was responsible for 8 all through schools in the UK. During this time he was also Headmaster of Quinton House School in Northampton. During his tenure GCSE results improved and the pupil roll increased significantly.

Slade is adopted and hails from Cardiff where he attended Whitchurch High School. He is featured in Russell T Davies' biography: T is for Television: The Small Screen Adventures of Russell T Davies (2008). In the book Davies reveals that he had great plans for Slade and some other characters from the series in a new TV Drama. However, the casting was overruled by the then head of Children's Television, Anna Home.

Following graduation with a first class honours degree and the Aneurin Davies Memorial Award for outstanding academic achievement from Cardiff Metropolitan University (a joint course with Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama) in 1998, Slade embarked on a successful career in teaching culminating in him becoming the youngest state secondary school Headteacher in the United Kingdom in 2007. On appointment he was just 30 and had only been in teaching for 8 years.

Whilst at school in Cardiff in the 80s and 90s, Slade became the longest serving presenter of the cult BBC 1 network children's TV magazine programme, Why Don't You? He joined the series in 1988 as a member of the Cardiff presenting team (known as "the gang") wearing his trademark flat cap. These Cardiff programmes were the first written by the celebrated TV writer Russell T. Davies. Davies used this early opportunity to weave a dramatic storyline into the various activities, games and 'makes' to make the programme more interesting and appealing and to improve its audience ratings. During the Davies and Slade era the show's audience grew from 0.9 million to 2.9 million on Children's BBC.

Benjamin Rory Slade (born 22 April 1976) is a British educator.