Nav Ahmed is a Principal Lecturer at Arden University and an award-winning educator. With a background in Modern Languages, Nav studied French Studies with German at the University of Warwick before obtaining a PGCE from the University of Sheffield. He then completed postgraduate qualifications in Law, including a senior status LLB at the University of Birmingham followed by the Legal Practice Course (LPC).

Prior to making the move into Higher Education, Nav enjoyed an extensive and highly successful career in Further Education, starting as an A-Level Law Lecturer at Bedford College before being appointed as Curriculum Leader of Access to Higher Education at Newcastle-under-Lyme College and then Curriculum Leader of vocational business programmes at Warwickshire College.

Nav’s HE journey began as a Lecturer on HND programmes at Birmingham Metropolitan College. In 2018, he joined UCB as a Senior Lecturer in Business, Marketing and Finance, managing the Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship (CMDA) in Business Management, and being voted for by students as the winner of the Spotlight on Great Teaching Awards in 2020 and again in 2021. Nav joined Arden University in 2022 as a Principal Lecturer in the Institute of Foundation Studies, where his role involves leading on Quality and Enhancement, developing and implementing strategies to deliver successful outcomes for students.

Nav is also an external examiner for business programmes at several universities, as well as a Certified Management and Business Educator (CMBE) and Fellow of the Society for Education and Training (FSET). He is passionate about EDI and widening participation, aspiring to be a positive role model for his two young sons, as well as youngsters from all communities as somebody they can look up to and whose achievements they can emulate.

Coming from a humble background in an area of high deprivation in Birmingham, growing up Nav did not have many role models to look up to, particularly in teaching as none of his teachers looked like him. When he passed the 11 plus exam to gain entry to a grammar school, Nav felt ‘imposter syndrome’ and thought he did not belong in an affluent area where most of his peers benefitted from wealth and privilege. However, this motivated him to pursue a career in the teaching profession and he now lives in the same area where he went to school and once thought he did not fit in.

As the first person in his family to go to a grammar school, attend university and become a teacher, Nav’s aim is to inspire students and show them that they too can overcome barriers and achieve whatever they want to as long as they have the determination, focus and confidence to pursue their goals.