Sir Michael John Tomlinson CBE (born 17 October 1942 in Rotherham), known as Mike Tomlinson, is an educationalist, formerly a teacher and Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills.
He studied for a BSc in chemistry at the University of Durham before going on to do a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the University of Nottingham, followed by 12 years in the classroom as a science teacher, including some time on secondment to Imperial Chemical Industries as a schools liaison officer in 1977.
In 1978 he joined Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools (now Ofsted) and, in this capacity, helped to re-establish the education system in Kuwait following the first Gulf War.
In November 2000 when Chris Woodhead resigned, he became Chief Inspector of Schools, a post which he held until his retirement in 2002.
Shortly after his retirement, he led an enquiry into the controversy surrounding A-level grading, and was then appointed chair of the 14–19 Working Group in 2003.