The daughter of Thomas Sargant, first secretary of JUSTICE, and Czechoslovakian-born philologist Marie Hlouskova, Sargant was educated at Friends School Saffron Walden graduating from Bedford College, University of London with a degree in sociology.
Sargant became professor of applied social research in 1978, a post where she remained until leaving the OU in 1981 to join Channel 4 as a senior commissioning editor for educational programming on a channel mandated to dedicate 15% of its output to education. NIACE published Lifelong Learning: A Brave and Proper Vision Selected writings of Naomi Sargant in 2009 and organises an annual memorial lecture in her honour. NIACE director Alan Tuckett described Sargant at the time of her death as "among the most distinguished adult educators of the post-war era".
Sargant died from cancer, aged 72.
She had been married twice, first to Peter Kelly (in 1954), and secondly to Andrew McIntosh (1962-2006. Her death).
She left Channel 4 in 1989 and became an executive member of the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education.
