RICHARD BIGGS
CEO, GEV
Richard Biggs grew up in South Africa, attending St Andrew’s College Prep School in Bloemfontein (where he was a chorister) and then the South African High School in Cape Town (Africa’s oldest school). He completed a degree in physics and then a teaching diploma at Cape Town University. He won Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where he read maths and philosophy at Pembroke College while captaining the Oxford University fencing team.
Richard’s first teaching post was at Magdalen College School in Oxford, one of the UK’s leading academic schools. He taught maths and physics and coached tennis, hockey, and fencing. He was appointed as Director of Studies in 1998.
In 2001 Richard was appointed as Second Master at Lancing College, a co-educational day and boarding school on the Sussex coast, and a leading school in the Woodard Corporation – the largest educational charity in the UK. During his time at the school, he served as Acting Head for a year. In 2007 he was appointed as the Headmaster of King’s College in the UK, one of the top co-educational day and boarding schools in the South West of England.
Throughout his career, Richard has been heavily involved with overseas travel and with overseas schools. He has travelled widely to attend marketing and alumni events in countries around the world. He was involved, at King’s, with the Woodard Corporation’s project to build a school in the Rift Valley in Kenya and served on the board of that new school for a while. While he was Headmaster, King’s College also established several new schools in the Middle East and India.
Richard is a Governor of Sedbergh School in Cumbria (where he chairs the Education Committee). He was Chairman of the Woodard Heads Association and an HMC Academic Policy Committee member. He retired from the Headship of King’s College, in July 2022.
Richard is married to Sarah, a journalist. They have two sons.
Richard’s interests are widespread: he is a keen amateur cook, enjoys making furniture in his workshop, loves walking in the beautiful Somerset countryside, and travels and reads widely. He is a keen musician, having sung in several different choirs throughout his life and reached grade 8 on the French horn.
Richard is delighted to be leading GEV into the new and exciting project of establishing world-class institutions under the name of King's College in India, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, South Korea and Nepal initially; then Japan, Malaysia ,Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and other new regions to be added in the future.
MESSAGE FROM RICHARD BIGGS
CEO – GLOBAL EDUCATIONAL VENTURE
“I believe that schools like King’s College offer an approach to education that is of immense value to children everywhere. It is an approach that looks to develop fully rounded, thoughtful, creative, confident, and interesting human beings. King’s College challenge and inspire young people to discover who they are, to think for themselves, and to develop a deep love of learning and a regard for the world and the people around them. Above all, King’s College academies are happy, vibrant, busy places, which are a joy to work in and always a pleasure to visit. I am delighted that I have a chance, through GEV, to take the life-affirming richness of that education to new communities around the world.”