X

Principalship

Meet the leadership team at Yeovil College. Along with the Corporation, it is their role to ensure that Yeovil College delivers an appropriate, quality and innovative curriculum, which not only achieves strong employability skills and knowledge, but meets the immediate and future needs of industry, business and local employers.

The team will lead the College on a strategic journey; investing significant resources in teaching and learning, as well as challenging the educational landscape in Somerset and Dorset.

Mark Bolton

CEO & Principal

Mark Bolton

CEO & Principal

Mark joined Yeovil College as Director of Employer Engagement in November 2015. Prior to this, he studied at De Montfort University where he graduated with an Honours Degree in Graphic Design and Illustration in 1993, Mark then worked as a freelance Illustrator and Graphic Designer until 2007. Mark began teaching Graphic Design in 1995 in the North East of England and continued to develop his work in the sector over the following years until he was promoted to Head of Creative Industries in 2003.

Mark joined the senior team at Northumberland College in the North East with a focus on teaching and learning and working with the business community over the next few years until he joined the Principalship team as Assistant Principal for Teaching and Learning and then subsequently for Apprenticeships and Business Development. Mark continued with the same focus at Yeovil College, from 2015, where he led the strategic direction of our curriculum and engagement with our business community.

Mark has been Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality at Yeovil College since March 2018 and leads on all teaching related responsibilities. He took on the role of CEO & Principal in October 2019.

Mark believes passionately in the life changing opportunities provided by the Further Education sector and is committed to developing the workforce of the community Yeovil College serves for the prosperity of the whole of South Somerset and Dorset.

https://www.yeovil.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/markbnew-300x300.jpg

Emma Cox

Vice Principal, Infrastructure & Projects

Emma Cox

Vice Principal, Infrastructure & Projects

Emma was born in London but her family moved to Devon where she went to Torquay Grammar School for Girls. She left school with 2 A levels and moved back to London in the early 1990s to be a rock star. To pay the bills, she took a job at Midland Bank in the City, successfully gaining a place on their graduate training scheme. During this period she worked in various placements throughout the bank and passed her accountancy exams. She is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA) with over 20 years’ post qualified experience, having worked in manufacturing and telecommunications in Paignton, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Ottawa and Sydney.

Her experience in Further Education started in 2002 at South Devon College in Paignton, shortly after the College had been graded unsatisfactory. She spent the first 6 years as the Financial Controller, being promoted to Finance Manager in 2008, and she was part of the team that successfully brought the College to its outstanding Ofsted grade.

She has been Vice Principal at Yeovil College since January 2015, with a focus on improving the financial health of the college, whilst balancing that with providing excellent facilities and resources for its learners.

https://www.yeovil.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/emmac-300x300.jpg

Donna Short

Vice Principal, Quality of Education

Donna Short

Vice Principal, Quality of Education

Donna Short joined Yeovil College in December 2011. She started her career as an Apprentice Hairdresser with a local salon based in Yeovil, quickly working her way up to a Senior Stylist position. Having completed her Level 3 in Advanced Hairdressing and her Assessor’s qualifications, she began training staff within the salon environment. Donna started her teaching career at a local college and having completed a Diploma in Teaching within the lifelong learning sector, she taught at all levels of Hairdressing. Donna moved to Yeovil College to take up the position of Lecturer and Programme Manager, where she worked alongside the team to develop and enhance the Hairdressing provision before progressing to Curriculum Area Manager in 2014. Donna successfully ran the Hair, Beauty and Hospitality curriculum for five years, before being appointed to the senior role of Director of Curriculum in 2019 and then promoted once more to Vice Principal, Quality of Education in 2022 at Yeovil College.

https://www.yeovil.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_7521-EDIT-scaled-e1662112552160-300x300.jpg

James Pill-Waring

Vice Principal, Finance & Resources

James Pill-Waring

Vice Principal, Finance & Resources

James Pill-Waring joined Yeovil College as Head of Finance in 2017. Following the completion of his Accounting and Finance degree at the University of Exeter, James returned to Cornwall and worked in the finance team at manufacturing company Pall, where he successfully studied from home alongside his work and achieved a Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA) qualification in 2008.

After moving to Somerset, James worked in the Defence industry with Thales and was also part of the management team at Flybe for 6 years, with responsibilities including the financial reporting for aviation maintenance, repair & overhaul centre and the training academy, business partnering, project work to reduce excess aircraft capacity and leading the management accounts cost team for the group.

Having joined Yeovil College in 2017 as Head of Finance, James has supported the college to improve its financial position and has also overseen the Institute of Technology investments and developments, as well as being heavily involved with other capital projects. James is a regular attendee at corporation committees presenting information to the Finance, Audit, and Infrastructure committees and at the strategy days.

James is looking forward to overseeing the planned investment in the college over the coming years to give our local community and learners an extraordinary environment to develop and learn new skills.

https://www.yeovil.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/James-Pill-Waring-scaled-e1662112526110-300x300.jpg

Rob Stuckey

Assistant Principal

Rob Stuckey

Assistant Principal

Rob is a senior leader who has been employed at Yeovil College in a management role since 2017.

After finishing his GCSEs Rob signed up for the Royal Signals where he worked for a few years. After leaving the forces, Rob started an Apprenticeship in Automotive Engineering at a local VW Specialist. Having worked eight years in the industry, he made the decision to make the switch to work in education, taking a work-based assessor role at Bridgwater and Taunton College for the Automotive Department.

Rob then transferred to work in the Quality department for the National Training Organisation, gaining successful internal promotions Rob became the area manager responsible for apprenticeship training in the south-west.

After this, Rob re-joined Bridgwater and Taunton College as an Automotive Commercial Training Manger responsible for developing and promoting commercial training to national companies.

Rob then joined Yeovil College where he was in post as the Curriculum Area Manager for Automotive Engineering for a period of four years after which he gained an internal promotion to Assistant Principal Teaching, Learning and Quality.

https://www.yeovil.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/MicrosoftTeams-image-7-1-scaled-e1661341990749-300x300.jpg

Scott Austin

Assistant Principal

Scott Austin

Assistant Principal

Scott has worked at Yeovil College since September 2019, originally joining the college as the Curriculum Area Manager for Construction, before joining the Senior Management Team in August 2022 as an Assistant Principal for curriculum.

At the age of 16, Scott began his career as an Apprentice Plumber for a building company in Sussex. Upon successful completion of his 4-year apprenticeship, Scott continued to work as a plumber, whilst also travelling and gaining plenty of new experiences. Some years later, Scott was approached by his old college lecturer inviting him back to try teaching. Successful in his interview, he went on to deliver a full range of plumbing and heating qualifications to a wide variety of learners.

Scott moved to Somerset and developed a new plumbing provision at a North Somerset College; whilst there, he had a variety of coaching, mentoring and tutoring roles alongside his teaching commitments. This led to Scott becoming Teaching, Learning & Assessment Quality Manager monitoring and supporting staff across the college to ensure that all learners had the best possible experience and the college remained outstanding.

Scott is enthusiastic about education, striving to ensure that learners have the best educational experience and are empowered to achieve success in their chosen careers.

https://www.yeovil.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Scott-Austin-scaled-e1662112502146-300x300.jpg

Adrian Ponter

Assistant Principal

Adrian Ponter

Assistant Principal

Adrian joined Yeovil College as a Study Programme Manager and Lecturer in Graphic Design in 2001. Prior to this, he worked as a Graphic Designer in London and Somerset working in Editorial Design, Advertising and Design Studios. He also worked as a Design Lecturer at several FE Colleges and Universities after graduating from Kingston University in 1992. He completed his PGCE in 1998 and a Masters Degree in Interactive Media and Design in 2008 both studied at Bath Spa University.

Adrian became a Curriculum and Quality Manager in 2010 in Creative Industries at Yeovil College and progressed to become the Curriculum Area Manager for Creative Industries in 2014. Adrian continued to focus on improving the quality of education in Creative Industries at Yeovil College and to help support the college to improve and thrive.

Adrian has been Assistant Principal for Quality of Education at Yeovil College since October 2021 and leads on several curriculum related responsibilities and manages several Curriculum Area Managers. He is very excited about the future of the college and the various projects and initiatives which are being developed.

Adrian is very passionate about Yeovil College and both Further and Higher Education and the fantastic opportunities they provide our learners, community and employers in Yeovil, South Somerset, Dorset and further afield.

https://www.yeovil.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/YCUC-Awards-195-300x300.jpg

Alex Clancy

Assistant Principal

Alex Clancy

Assistant Principal

Alex joined Yeovil College as Director of Employer Engagement in November 2021, bringing extensive experience of leading business development and employer engagement teams to the College. Prior to moving into education Alex spent 12 years in the retail and technology sector with market leaders in their sectors, Specsavers and Dyson, working across a range of account management and business development roles. Alex holds a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in Business Management. His previous role in education includes a five-year period as Head of Business Development at one of the largest colleges in the South West. As a result, Alex has extensive Apprenticeship, commercial, traineeship, work experience and industry placement knowledge which will further support Yeovil College's ambition to meet our local employer needs while also raising our learner’s attainment and ambitions. During his educational role Alex worked with some of the largest employers in the country including the NHS, Babcock, Hobbycraft, DSTL, Chemring Countermeasures, MoD, Dyson and numerous Councils.
Alex is extremely proud to be part of the forward thinking, innovative and passionate Yeovil College team and is looking forward to continuing to work with all community stakeholders to provide a leading experience for our students, employers and everyone else associated with the College.

https://www.yeovil.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Team-Shots-12-300x300.jpg