After a degree in psychology at Bristol University, Professor Stephen Scott studied medicine at Cambridge University. He was then a paediatrician for five years, including working with premature babies at the Royal London Hospital, and with psychosomatic cases at Great Ormond Street Hospital. After that he trained with Professor Sir Michael Rutter in child psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital/Institute of Psychiatry, where he has worked ever since.

His interests include devising and evaluating parenting programmes through controlled trials, and uncovering the mechanisms through which interventions work. He was founding co-editor of the journal Child and Adolescent Mental Health and is co-author with Professor Robert Goodman of the textbook Child Psychiatry.