Sir Bill says award is tribute to his college

Bill Moorcroft, principal of Trafford College, has been knighted in the Queen’s birthday honours.

His immediate response was to pay tribute to his students and staff. “It doesn’t make me feel older and it doesn’t make me feel wiser,” he said. “I just feel very privileged.”

The college was formed through the merger of Manchester’s South Trafford and North Trafford colleges in September, one of the latest in a string of FE mergers.

After he became principal at the former in 2003, it earned top Ofsted grades and became a centre of vocational excellence in hospitality and catering - a sector in which Sir Bill worked before moving into FE.

His record at the college earned him a place guiding the Learning and Skills Council’s Agenda for Change initiative in 2005. His role was to improve quality in colleges. He worked for three years at City and Guilds, developing vocational qualifications in hospitality and tourism, drawing on his experience as a lecturer at Southport College from 1983 to 1991.

Sir Bill said: “This is a testament to the achievements of the college and the students.

“I’m absolutely thrilled, delighted and privileged to have received this tremendous honour. It is recognition of what we’ve achieved as a college, and the sector as a whole.”

Graham Luccock, chair or Trafford College, said: “Bill’s contribution to both the college and to the FE sector over many years has been outstanding, and this has now been fully recognised at the highest level. I can think of no one more deserving to be honoured in this way.”

Mark Haysom, chief executive of the LSC, was also named in the birthday honours list. He becomes a Commander of the British Empire.

The LSC is soon to be phased out under the latest changes to college funding, which will see a vital role for local authorities in planning provision for 16- to 18-year-olds and the creation of a Skills Funding Agency for adult students in FE.

Other FE honours

CBE: Bernard Borland, principal, St Francis Xavier Sixth Form College, Wandsworth, south London.

OBE: Godfrey Glyn, principal, Barton Peveril Sixth Form College, Eastleigh, Hampshire, and representative of the Sixth Form Colleges Forum; Merron Mitchell, offender learning director, City College Manchester; Peter Lobban, chief executive, CITB-ConstructionSkills, the building industry’s training body.

MBE: Anthony Taylor, chair of governors, Walsall College, West Midlands; Janet Wales, study support manager, Runshaw College, Preston, Lancashire.