Alison Primrose was born and brought up in the city of Bath. She studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, before completing a PGCE in London and embarking on a career in teaching.
Alison has had a prolific teaching career, including teaching in Pakistan for five years, and being Head of a co-education day school in Bristol for ten years, during which time she completed her doctorate in educational assessment, with publications including a wide range of educational assessment materials. She was also a denominational inspector for church schools for many years, and the chief marker for one of the examination groups when the science SATs were first introduced.
Alison now leads inspections for the Independent Schools Inspectorate. She is a trustee for a number of educational charities and chair of a diocesan multi-academy trust. In her free time she enjoys gardening, walking her two black Labradors and travelling, usually to visit her children and grandchildren in Melbourne and Hong Kong.