Until 2001, he was a Professor in the School of Education at the
University of Nottingham. Before that he was head teacher at The
Garibaldi School in
Forest Town, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. When he was appointed head teacher there in 1989, the school had a poor reputation and unmotivated staff. His five-year plan turned the school round, and by 1993 Salisbury had become recognised as a successful entrepreneur. In 1998, Salisbury was knighted for his work in Education. In 2011 he led an enquiry into numeracy and literacy at schools in Northern Ireland. In 2013, he reviewed the funding of schools in Northern Ireland for the
Northern Ireland department for education. His review claimed that there was "a long rump of under-achievement in Northern Ireland", In 2019, he was criticised by the
DUP MP
Ian Paisley for "dismissing a significant number of high-achieving young adults in Northern Ireland", when he described some of the top schools in Northern Ireland as "Exam factories". ==Personal life==