Nelson and Colne College Group are delighted to announce that Principal and Chief Executive Amanda Melton has been awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
In light of her achievement, Amanda, who is also a Director of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, said: “I’ve had the complete privilege to work in FE colleges for 26 years and counting. I can’t think of a sector which makes a greater difference for people, places and skills.
“I owe this honour directly to the roles I’ve had to shout out for FE, most importantly the College of the Future Commission. My biggest fan, my lovely dad, died three years ago. He’d have been completely blown away that his little girl was honoured in this way. Thanks to my family and colleagues at Nelson and Colne College Group for giving me the opportunity to get involved in highlighting our transformational sector as part of a wider education ecosystem.”
Amanda was appointed Principal and Chief Executive of Nelson and Colne College in March 2012. The College is among the leading colleges nationally across a range of academic performance measures, delivering A Levels, technical and vocational training up to degree level, and Apprenticeships.
Since Amanda’s arrival, the College has expanded to include Lancashire Adult Learning, delivering adult skills education across the Lancashire. In 2018, Accrington and Rossendale College also joined the Nelson and Colne College family, after a successful merger, under Amanda’s leadership to form Nelson and Colne College Group.
Amanda also successfully led the creation of the Pendle Education Trust in 2013, a multi-academy trust initially set up to address the particular needs of poor-performing schools. The Trust is currently responsible for five academies, of which three have already improved by two Ofsted grades since transferring to the Trust.
Amanda is a Director at the Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP Champion for Skills and Technical Education), and Chair of the Lancashire LEP Skills Advisory Panel. More recently Amanda has sat on the Independent Commission on the College of the Future and been appointed as a national leader in Further Education.
For more information about Nelson and Colne College, please visit www.nelson.ac.uk, and for Accrington and Rossendale College, please visit www.accross.ac.uk. To apply, or for application support, contact the Admissions Team at admissions@nelsongroup.ac.uk or call 01282 440272.
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