Thomas John Sandars (born February 1976, St. Marylebone, London) is a continuity announcer for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

and a newsreader for the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

Education

From 1989 to 1994, Sandars was educated at

The Oratory School The Oratory School () is an HMC Co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Roman Catholic day and boarding school for pupils aged 11–18 located in Woodcote, north-west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. Founded in 1859 by S ...

,Notable Old Oratorians (1972-2009) - In the Arts and Media - Tom Sanders
Publisher: ''The Oratory School Society'', Woodcote, Oxfordshire. Retrieved: 1 May 2013. a Roman Catholic boarding

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

for boys in the village of

Woodcote Woodcote is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, about southeast of Wallingford and about northwest of Reading, Berkshire. It is in the Chiltern Hills, and the highest part of the village is above sea level. Woodcote lies betwee ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, followed by the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, where he studied Typography and Graphic Communication. In 1995 he was the Editor of the student union newspaper, ''

Spark Spark commonly refers to: * Spark (fire), a small glowing particle or ember * Electric spark, a form of electrical discharge Spark may also refer to: Places * Spark Point, a rocky point in the South Shetland Islands People * Spark (surname) * ...

''. He is married to Kate.

Career

He started at Radio Shropshire in 1998, moving to BBC WM. He was a presenter on ''

Midlands Today ''Midlands Today'' is the BBC's regional television news service for the West Midlands. It was launched in 1964 and is presented by Mary Rhodes, Nick Owen, Elizabeth Glinka, Rebecca Wood and Shefali Oza. Overview ''Midlands Today'' is produc ...

'' and was also their political reporter for ''The Midlands at Westminster''. Sandars was then a freelance newsreader for the

. He has been a

continuity announcer since June 2017 and a newsreader since May 2018. He was a newsreader and presenter for

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

for ten years from 2003. Between 2007 and 2017 he read news bulletins for

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

and for Radio 6 Music He is also an arts correspondent and can be heard on Radio 4 political programmes. On the 9 April 2021, Sandars' voice was heard breaking into all

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

programmes to announce the death of Prince Philip.

References

External links

Website

Twitter

Video clips

Sky News

Innocent Drinks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandars, Tom Alumni of the University of Reading BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC Radio 5 Live presenters English political journalists People educated at The Oratory School Sky News newsreaders and journalists 1976 births Living people