Neil Southwell came to Higher Education as a mature student via an Access course. He specialises in the study of truants and truancy from a truantist perspective. After completing his first degree in Education Studies with Media & Popular Culture at University College Northampton, and his MPhil in Education Research at The University of Cambridge, he gave lectures at Cambridge on the MEd Special & Inclusive Education course. He has lectured on the Joint and Combined (Hons) Education Studies since 2003.