Simon was first employed as External Advisor in establishing the Music Journalism degree, and then as its Programme Leader. He helped design, build and deliver the course from its first cohort in 2014. Simon continues to teach across the Journalism programmes, and lead on the Music Journalism provision.

Previously, Simon worked as Associate Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and Visiting Lecturer at Leeds University. Guest lecturers included: Staffordshire University, Manchester University (Careers Service), Salford University, EF Foreign Language School. Audiences have ranged from primary school children to Masters students. Also delivered “masterclasses” on public relations and journalism for the Manchester City Music Network and was a regular panellist at Chester University’s Inside Creative Industries event.

He currently teaches across both all three year of undergraduate, and also post-graduate.

At undergraduate level, his current modules include: Introduction to Journalism; Live Journalism; Dancing Abut Architecture: Popular Music Media, Histories and Technologies; The Cultural Politics of Music Journalism; The Politics of Social Media; Magazine Publishing and Music PR and Promotional Writing. He also supervises both dissertation and Negotiated Study production projects,

At post-graduate level he has supervised an MRes project to completion and examined PhDs to successful outcomes, one internal and two external, including one Australian PhD by Artefact & Exegesis.

He has worked to validate degree courses at both Chester and external institutions, including the University of Derby.

In terms of working as an External Examiner, he served in that capacity for Music Journalism at Southampton Solent University from 2016-2019; for
Music Journalism at BIMM London, Birmingham and Manchester, from 2016-19, extended to 2020.