[1] He was educated at Cheshunt Grammar School before winning a Fleming Scholarship (paid for by Hertfordshire County Council) to attend Eton College.
[1][2] From January 1967-August 1968 he taught at a boy's secondary school in Minaki, Tanzania, returning to the UK to matriculate at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was a choral exhibitioner.
[3] He won a Thouron Award to attend the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in intellectual history in 1975.
His major responsibility was the development of a new suite of courses in the humanities leading first to a Diploma in Higher Education, and then to a BA degree.
[8] Watson played a significant role in the development of higher education in the UK, serving on the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) (1977-1993) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (1992-96) where he chaired its Quality Assessment Committee.
He was Honorary President, Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) (2005-2012), and Member of the Advisory Board, Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) (2002-2013) Watson’s love of teaching, and his commitment to the importance of lifelong learning led to other significant roles: Chair, Universities Association for Continuing Education (UACE) (1994-98), Chair, Steering Committee for ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) (1998-2003), Chair, Advisory Panel for National Teaching Fellowships (2003-2005) and Chair of the Commission of Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning (IFLL) (2007-2009), co-authoring its report Learning Through Life, which was published in 2009.
He was an accomplished pianist and enjoyed serving as repetiteur for the Oxford Operatic Society in the 1980s, giving occasional lunchtime concerts on Brighton’s Falmer campus with Andy Sherwood (violinist and leader of the Brighton Youth Orchestra), or accompanying students who came to the informal musical evenings he and Betty hosted at Green Templeton College.