[3] She studied at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an undergraduate Master of Arts (MA Hons) degree in 1986.
[4] She remained to study for a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in phonology, which was awarded in 1989 with a doctoral thesis titled "Constraining lexical phonology: evidence from English vowels".
[4] She was additionally Head of the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, then Head of the College of Humanities and Social Science, and finally its vice-principal (planning and research planning) from 2009 to 2011.
[10] In 2016, she joined the University of Kent as deputy vice-chancellor (education) and Professor of English Language and Linguistics.
[4] She moved once again, joining the University of Manchester as vice-president for teaching, learning and students in 2019.