Education

Ahmad was educated at the state comprehensive John Roan School

John Roan school

The John Roan School is a secondary comprehensive school in Greenwich, South London that was a member of The Beacon Schools program.- Location :...

 on Maze Hill

Maze Hill

Maze Hill is an area in Greenwich and Blackheath, in south-east London, lying to the east of Greenwich Park, and west of the Westcombe Park area of Blackheath. It is part of the London Borough of Greenwich, and takes its name from the main thoroughfare, Maze Hill...

 in Blackheath

Blackheath, London

Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...

, south-east London, followed by the University of Bristol

University of Bristol

The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...

, where he studied law.

Early life

Before his media career, Ahmad worked as a Trainee Foreign Exchange Dealer in the City of London and as a researcher in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

.

BBC News

Ahmad began his media career at the BBC on the News Trainee Scheme in 1996 before working at BBC Birmingham as a Political Reporter and TV Presenter on BBC Midlands Today. Before joining BBC London, Ahmad presented editions of BBC Scotland's flagship news bulletin Reporting Scotland

Reporting Scotland

Reporting Scotland is BBC Scotland's national television news programme. The programme first aired on 1 April 1968, with three main presenters - the most famous being Mary Marquis...

 as well as news bulletins on BBC Breakfast

BBC Breakfast

BBC Breakfast is the morning television news programme simulcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. It is presented live from BBC Television Centre in White City, West London, and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items...

. He was one of the launch presenters and correspondents for Newsnight Scotland

Newsnight Scotland

Newsnight Scotland is a BBC Scotland television news programme which started on Monday October 4, 1999. The programme is aired from BBC Pacific Quay in Glasgow, and is an opt out of the main London-based Newsnight programme...

. He became the BBC's Scotland Correspondent, during which time he covered the Foot and Mouth outbreak, and riots in the North of England.

Ahmad moved to London to work as a reporter for BBC Breakfast before joining the presenting team with Moira Stuart

Moira Stuart

Moira Clare Ruby Stuart OBE is a British journalist who was the first African-Caribbean female newsreader on British television...

, Jeremy Bowen

Jeremy Bowen

Jeremy Francis John Bowen is a Welsh journalist and television presenter. He was the BBC's Middle East correspondent based in Jerusalem between 1995 and 2000, and has been its Middle East Editor since 2005.-Background:...

, Sophie Raworth

Sophie Raworth

Sophie Jane Raworth is an English newsreader and journalist who works for British broadcaster the BBC. She is the main presenter of the BBC News at One, presenting Tuesday to Friday, and regularly appears on the BBC News at Six and occasionally on BBC News at Ten.-Early life:Born in Surrey to a...

, Sarah Montague

Sarah Montague

Sarah Montague is a British Journalist, best known for her work on BBC Radio 4 as one of the regular presenters of the Today programme.-Early life:...

 and Darren Jordan. He also presented the News round-up on Breakfast with Frost

Breakfast with Frost

Breakfast with Frost was a talk show hosted by Sir David Frost on the BBC on Sunday mornings. The news presenter was Moira Stuart. The show ran for more than 12 years and exactly 500 editions between 3 January 1993 and 29 May 2005...

 and rolling news on BBC News

BBC News 24

BBC News is the BBC's 24-hour rolling news television network in the United Kingdom. The channel launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 17:30 as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic television channels, becoming the first competitor to Sky News, which had been running since 1989...

 with Sian Williams.

Other activities

Since moving back to London, Ahmad has become involved in a working party looking at homelessness in the capital. Ahmad has appeared on radio presenting on the BBC Asian Network

BBC Asian Network

BBC Asian Network is a British radio station serving those originating from and around the Indian subcontinent. The music and news comes out of the main urban areas where there are significant communities with these backgrounds. The station has production centres in Birmingham, Leicester and London...

. He has also previously presented the Newsdrive programme on BBC Radio Scotland and he has been shortlisted several times for awards for his special reports on BBC Radio.

Other programmes Ahmad has presented include a late night discussion programme for BBC Choice

BBC Choice

BBC Choice was a BBC TV station which launched on 23 September 1998 and closed on 9 February 2003. It was the first British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in digital format, and was the first new channel from the BBC since BBC Two launched in 1964...

, Newsline Scotland, East for BBC2, Music and current affairs programmes including a Pakistan Earthquake Special programme for BBC1.

Ahmad was invited by the US State Department to take part in their International Visitor Leadership Programme in 2006, where he delivered lectures. He is also a Patron of the charity Working With Words.

Honours

Ahmad was the 2006 Royal Television Society

Royal Television Society

The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...

 Reporter of the Year for London. He was shortlisted for an Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards (EMMA

EMMA

EMMA is an Organization which raises awareness of discrimination through media campaigns, social networking, and the EMMA Awards....

) award for Best Radio News Journalist.

Personal life

In 2007 Ahmad faced an allegation of harassment which he strongly denied stating that the allegation was “false”. He refused offers of a caution by the Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan police

Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...

 opting to take the case to court. In a pre-trial hearing, the Crown Prosecution Service

Crown Prosecution Service

The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...

offered no evidence and the charge was dropped.

External links

• Profile from BBC London