Nick Gibb was born in 1960 and educated at Maidstone Grammar School; Roundhay School, Leeds; Thornes House School, Wakefield; and Durham University, where he studied law.

Between 1984 and his election to Parliament in 1997, Nick was a chartered accountant with KPMG specialising in corporate taxation.

Nick was first elected in 1997. He has held the positions of Frontbench Spokesman on Trade and Industry (1997 – 1998; 1999-2001), Frontbench Spokesman on the Treasury (1998 - 1999), and Shadow Minister for Education and Shadow Minister for Schools (2005-2010).

Following the General Election in 2010, Nick was appointed by the Prime Minister to become Minister of State for Schools at the Department for Education where he served until September 2012. He returned to the post in July 2014. When Theresa May became Prime Minister in July 2016, Nick was appointed Minister for School Standards.

In November 2016, Nick was appointed to the Privy Council.

In June 2017, Nick was re-elected and re-appointed as Minister of State for School Standards. 

Nick was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton in December 2019 and re-appointed as Minister of State for School Standards, a position he held until September 2021.  On 26 October 2022, the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, appointed Nick back to the Department for Education as Schools Minister.  

On 13 November 2023, Nick announced that he had stepped down as Schools Minister to take up a diplomatic role after the general election.  He also announced that he will not stand for re-election at the next election.