Windsor Forest Colleges Group has appointed Oliver Symons as its new CEO. Symons has been principal and chief executive of Moulton College for the last two years, during which the college exited a seven-year stint in government intervention. He will leave the land-based college ahead of its proposed merger with Northampton College, expected to take effect from January 2027. He will take over this autumn from Gillian May, who is due to leave Windsor Forest Colleges Group (WFCG) next month to join the FE Commissioner’s team. The group will be led in the interim by Samantha Foley, a WFCG governor and former chief financial officer at the University of Reading. WFCG teaches around 7,000 students and employs 900 people across four colleges, with sites in Langley, Windsor, Strode’s in Egham and a specialist land-based college, Berkshire College of Agriculture (BCA). Its latest accounts show ‘good’ financial health and it maintained a ‘good’ Ofsted rating in 2024. However, staff at the college group have gone on strike three times this year over low pay, with the latest industrial action taking place earlier this month. Symons is a serving Ofsted inspector and sits on the board of the land-based colleges membership body Landex. Jo Croft, WFCG chair of governors, said: “Oliver is an outstanding appointment. His track record of leadership, his depth of knowledge across the FE sector and his direct experience as an Ofsted inspector make him ideally placed to lead WFCG forward.” Symons added: “I am incredibly proud to be joining Windsor Forest Colleges Group at such an exciting point in its development. The group has a strong reputation for educational excellence, innovation, and ambition, and I am looking forward to working with colleagues, students, governors, and partners to build on that success. “While I am excited for the opportunity ahead, leaving Moulton College is not a decision I have taken lightly. Moulton is a very special place and I am enormously proud of what has been achieved together over recent years. The college is now in a much stronger position and entering an exciting new chapter with real confidence.”