The current operational director at the Schools, Students and Teachers Network (SSAT) Bill Watkin has been appointed as the new chief executive of the Sixth Form College Association (SFCA).
He will start in the post on April 18 following the retirement of current SFCA chief executive, David Igoe.
The appointment was announced today by SFCA chair, Eddie Playfair, who said: “Bill is a great advocate for educational excellence and social justice and he has the vision, skills and experience to help lead our sector through what will certainly be a period of significant change.
“We are confident that he will be a great champion for our work and will help us make an even more significant contribution to the educational landscape.”
Mr Watkin said: “This is a very exciting time for the SFCA and I am looking forward to working with member colleges across the country to ensure that their outstanding work is recognised and celebrated and that they continue to play a vital role in leading system-wide improvements across all phases of education.”
He started his career as a teacher of modern foreign languages in secondary schools and developed his work as a national consultant on curriculum matters.
He has written a French text book and many publications on education.
He has also sat on a number of boards, including two Multi-Academy Trusts, the Centre for High Performance, the DfE Capital Consultative Forum and the EFA Learner Support Consultative Forum.
Since 2006, he has worked for SSAT, a membership organisation for schools, leading its work on the academies programme, developing policy and supporting academy leaders, governors, sponsors, and operators.
Mr Igoe said: “I think he will do a good job. He has an interesting background and given that SFCs are looking seriously at whether they should become academies and are talking about becoming more schools-facing, he is the ideal person to bridge the gap.”
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