Ben is a software developer with nearly 20 years experience in IT support and writing applications. His first experience in the world of education technology was helping my teachers fix problems with BBC Micros in primary school, moving to Archimedes and latterly PCs in secondary school. He studied Computer Science at the University of Portsmouth, graduating in 2006. This led to a career working in IT support at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton. He continued to work in support roles at two high-achieving secondary schools in Kingston-upon-Thames, becoming Network Manager at one of them. In 2012, he went to work as a developer in a software company producing solutions for global law firms. In 2022, he co-founded Avalon, working in conjunction with the team at Richard Challoner School to develop Avalon Achieve, a software tool to help manage student participation in extra-curricular activities.