Leicester College principal Verity Hancock has announced she will not return to the role due to her ongoing cancer treatment.
The 58-year-old has been on sick leave for the past five months and said she is due to undergo major surgery this month followed by more chemotherapy.
In a message to staff yesterday, shared with FE Week by Hancock, the principal said: “This is another difficult message to write but I don’t think it will be a surprise to many. The governors and I have taken the view that I won’t be able to return to my role at Leicester College.
“There are two main reasons for this decision. The first is practical and logistical. This treatment is lengthy. Even if I were to recover sufficiently to return, it would still be many months away, with no guarantee that a return would be possible in any case. The college needs a permanent leader to take it forward into the next strategic plan and beyond. You all need stability and certainty, as do those currently running the college.
“The second reason is more personal. Even if I was able to return, I know that I would not be able to do the job as well as I would like. Having undertaken the role for nearly 12 years, I know that nothing less than 100 per cent will do.”
Hancock became principal of Leicester College in January 2013. Prior to the role she was executive director of capacity and infrastructure at the then-Skills Funding Agency where she developed the National Careers Advice Service.
She has been involved in education since gaining a law degree from Oxford in 1988, holding positions with the City and Guilds London Institute, Training and Enterprise Councils and the Learning and Skills Council, including national director of funding, planning and performance for the latter.
Hancock has also been a board member of the Office for Students, a director of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP), a trustee of the National Space Centre and of the Skills and Education Group. She also chaired the Student Loans Company’s advanced learning loans stakeholder group.
Shabir Ismail, who has worked at Leicester College since 2010, has been acting principal since Hancock’s departure.
The college, which is judged as ‘good’ by Ofsted and teaches around 8,000 learners, said it will be starting to plan for a permanent successor shortly.
Hancock told staff: “It’s a critical, full-on job with enormous commitment, time and energy required. It would not be fair on you, or the students, to assume that I would recover that energy, even if all the treatment is successful.
“The college needs someone who can bring all that to the role, and my priority for the foreseeable future must be to focus on my health so that I can be around for my family as long as possible.
“It has been the honour and privilege of my life to be your principal, and I hope I will be able to say a lot more about that when I say a proper goodbye at the end of the year. I will miss the college enormously but this is the right decision for me, and for the college.”
Danielle Gillett, chair of Leicester College, said: “Verity has been principal for 12 years and during that time has made a huge contribution to the college, positioning it firmly as the college of choice for young people and adults wishing to pursue technical and vocational education and training, and as a key local partner for many companies and organisations.
“The board and staff of the college are very sorry to see Verity go. We will miss her greatly and we wish her all the very best for the future.”
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