Asif is a nationally recognised education leader and advocate for educational equity, with a career spanning school leadership, school improvement and system-level roles.

He has a proven track record of supporting schools through challenging circumstances, driving rapid improvement, raising standards and improving outcomes. Appointed Headteacher of Town Farm Primary School in 2016, he has led a sustained transformation of the school, which, under his leadership, became the first and only community primary school in the borough to be graded Outstanding in all areas.

Among his many achievements, he was seconded in 2019 to Surrey County Council’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Transformation Programme, where he helped strengthen early intervention and improve access to support for children and young people in schools. In 2021, he co-authored work on strategic approaches to inclusion, supporting greater equity, more consistent inclusive practice across schools, and environments in which all children are better supported to belong and achieve.

In 2025, he contributed to the development of school inspection practice through his involvement with Ofsted, sharing his perspectives and supporting school and system leaders nationally to engage confidently with evolving approaches to inspection.

Widely recognised as Surrey’s first headteacher from an ethnic minority background, he has helped break longstanding barriers in educational leadership, providing visible representation at senior level and supporting children and educators to raise aspirations and challenge inequality.

Alongside his leadership roles, Asif is a speaker, writer and adviser on educational leadership, inclusion, collaboration and school improvement, and serves on several charitable, governance and advisory boards supporting education and community development.