Mr Woodhead said his schools would set the "highest standards".

Cognita, the firm he chairs, has paid Asquith Court around �60m for schools in the Home Counties.

Mr Woodhead, a fervent critic of some modern teaching methods, promised a "traditional" education for pupils.

He will handle curriculum matters, while colleagues will look after the business side. Cognita plans to buy 24 schools within a couple of years.

Further plans

Cognita has already purchased Quinton House, a private school near Northampton.

Mr Woodhead told BBC News deals with "another four or five schools" in the Home Counties and Midlands were pending and that expansion of the company was going ahead "rather quicker than expected".

Cognita was not "limiting itself" to particular areas of the country.

Mr Woodhead said: "They will be high-standard schools and will have a broad curriculum, with plenty of emphasis on the arts and sport.

"There will be very high-quality pastoral care. That is something that parents expect."

The schools purchased educate 4,500 children, whose parents pay fees of between �6,000 and �9,000 a year.

Mr Woodhead said staff would have the "highest expectations" of pupils.

He added: "We want to bring teachers together to think about the curriculum, to work out a curriculum for our schools that lasts.

"Teachers won't have to reinvent the wheel every month, as seems to be happening in many schools."

Mr Woodhead has strongly criticised the plans outlined by Mike Tomlinson, another former chief schools inspector, to reform education for 14 to 19 year olds in England.

He said it was yet to be decided whether Cognita would adopt Mr Tomlinson's four-part diploma system, if it is backed by the government in a white paper next year.

Mr Woodhead said: "I very much hope that Mike Tomlinson's reforms never get approved, as I think they are wrong for academic and vocational education."

Cognita would have to decide between implementing them or offering international baccalaureate exams instead, he added.