Music education, choral conducting, curriculum design
Ed Watkins is a teacher and musician with 20 years experience working in London state schools.
In 2011 Ed founded Inner Voices, one of the UK’s leading youth choirs, and that year also joined the West London Free School as one of its founding teachers. At WLFS he lead school’s specialism in music for 14 years creating a department that delivered joyful community music making with a side helping of country-leading exam results.
Ed has been extensively involved in the wider music education world working with the Department for Education, Ofqual, Ofsted, OCR, Eduqas and Oak National Academy. His output includes leading the authoring of the DfE’s Model Music Curriculum and Ofsted’s research review in music.
2007 – Assistant Director of Music, Bishop Thomas Grant
2011 – founded Inner Voices
2011 – founding Director of Music at the West London Free School
2012-15 – monitoring board member for the first National Plan for Music Education
2014-15 – subject expert and lead reviewer for the reformed GCSE at Ofqual
2020-21 – subject specialist for music, Ofsted
2021 – lead author, Model Music Curriculum
2021 – lead author, research review in music, Ofsted
2023-24 – monitoring board member for the second National Plan for Music Education
