The Harold Dent Memorial Fund was established in memory of Harold Dent (1894 -1995) who served in the honorary office of President of the College of Preceptors from 1962 to 1970. He brought to this office experience as the first Headteacher of the Gateway School, Leicester, as editor of The Times Educational Supplement, as Professor of Education in the University of Sheffield and as Assistant Dean at the Institute of Education of London University. His major publications included 1870 - 1970 A Century of Growth in English Education; Education in England and Wales and The Training of Teachers in England and Wales.

The purpose of the Harold Dent Memorial Fund was to establish an arena for the delivery of speeches with regard to education and educational representation within the media and with the support of the Fund, five lectures were delivered between 1996 and 2006 by eminent people drawn from both the media and education:

1996      Power or influence; can educational journalists make a difference?

1998  Education for All, Achievement for All and pupils who are too good to drift 

Professor Jean Rudduck, Homerton College, University of Cambridge

2002  Quality Assurance and Post-Sixteen Education

Baroness Pauline Perry, President of Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge

2003  Education and the Media

Sir Trevor MacDonald, ITN broadcaster

2006  Good news and bad news: accountability in education

 Mike Baker, BBC Education Correspondent