Mike Tomlinson could have spent his working life down a mine or in a steel forge but for the vision of his primary teachers.

Those teachers who encouraged him to achieve his full potential opened up the opportunities that eventually led to his appointment as chief inspector of schools.

“I want the same opportunity for every child,” he says simply.

This mission has led to a tenure at the Office for Standards in Education - which ends next week - characterised by forthrightness, honesty and a concentration on the facts.

The most common comment is that he is “a breath of fresh air” after his controversial predecessor, Chris Woodhead.

Mr Tomlinson says that he has removed the “demon image” from OFSTED, while friends say he has transformed perception of his organisation and restored its credibility. A recent TES poll backs this, showing that more than half of teachers now think that OFSTED helps schools improve.

It could, of course, be said that anyone would have looked good after Mr Woodhead. Education commentators, however, insist that he has put his own, very positive, stamp on the work of OFSTED.

“Being not Chris Woodhead was a distinctive attribute, but Mike Tomlinson’s achievement goes further,” says Eamonn O’Kane, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers.

He has been unafraid to point out where things are going wrong. This was demonstrated most recently when an inspectors’ report showed that classroom assistants do not necessarily lighten teachers’ workload. And he brought a major issue to the forefront of public debate when he spoke out on retention problems last year.

He has also restored confidence within OFSTED. Reputedly, in his first address as chief inspector he promised staff two things: that he would not speak on any subject about which he knew nothing, and that everything he said would be based on evidence. He was greeted with heartfelt applause.

In another significant move, he is shepherding in a new inspection system which will lighten the load on schools and concentrate more effort where it is needed.

It will be left to his successor, David Bell, to bring it into being, although some believe he will want to make significant changes to it. Mr Tomlinson denies this and says that Mr Bell has been consulted throughout the process.

Mr Tomlinson does admit to some regret that he will not be around to see the new framework introduced and value-added performance tables put in place. “There is always something that is not quite finished,” he says.

But he flatly denies the persistent rumours that he would have liked to have stayed on in the post for a little longer, despite the fact that he will be 60 this year.

“If I was younger and in the same position, I might have felt differently,” he says. “Personally, I feel that the organisation needed a new set of hands on the tiller.”

He is now set for a new venture as head of Hackney’s education body, which may pose as great a challenge as turning OFSTED around.

“I think the children, parents and teachers of Hackney deserve a better chance,” he says.“One of the biggest challenges we face is persuading children and parents coming to the end of primary that they should stay in secondary in Hackney. A huge proportion do not.

“I intend to meet parents of children in the last two years of primary school and ask them what it would take to persuade them to stay, as well as talking to parents who have taken their children out of the borough.”

Mike Tomlinson has set himself a tough challenge for his retirement. But after his performance as chief inspector, it is easy to believe that if anyone can inspire faith in Hackney’s education system, he can. After all, even teachers like OFSTED now.