James graduated from the University of Western Ontario (Canada) in 2006 with a BA in History and moved to the United Kingdom that same year. He completed his PGCE from the University of East Anglia in 2010 and began teaching in a local secondary school. James has worked for a high-performing secondary school as a KS3 and KS4 history teacher for over 13 years.

Throughout that time, he has held additional roles including being a Head of Department, teaching mentor and as a subject tutor for an Initial Teaching Training provider.