Alan Harding was educated at the Universities of Leicester, London (Queen Mary) and Thames Valley. After a brief period in which he tried his hand at a variety of jobs with employers ranging from the railways, the BBC and the NHS he found himself teaching evening classes in British Constitution. Despite having early rejected teaching as a career (too many family connections!) – he found he enjoyed the buzz of the environment and so began a career in Further or Post-Compulsory Education. He taught at a number of FE institutions ending his career in FE as a senior manager in one of the larger FE/HE establishments in the south of England. During this time he had been invited to participate in Teaching Training courses and eventually ended up running them! Simultaneously he developed another personal interest by establishing some of the first Higher Education Media courses directly supported and sponsored by the broadcast industries.

Over the years he has been a consultant to various education and training organisations in both the public and commercial sectors. He has also held examiner and moderator roles in Ireland, France and the UK, most recently at Liverpool John Moores University (2007). He combines his interest in the Education and the Media and was until recently National Secretary to the Association of Media Practice Educators (AMPE) and also a member of the Tertiary Education Forum of Skillset, the Broadcast and Associated Industries SSC. He is a reviewer and Fellow of the HEA.