The new man AT THE HELM
East Durham Business editor Leanne Fawcett chats to Scott Bullock, who is just a few weeks into his role as Principal and CEO of East Durham College.
Scott tells us more about his unlikely move into the further education sector, his aims to build on the college’s already excellent reputation within the sector, and what the college can do to ensure its talented students stay in the region once they’ve completed their studies…
Sitting down with Scott Bullock at East Durham College’s Peterlee campus, it’s clear that this is a man who is hugely passionate about the education sector and the thousands of students who pass through the college’s doors every day.
Drawing on his own very humble roots, having been the first member of his working class family to go to university, he can relate to both the challenges and opportunities young people face and is determined to give them the very best chance to move into careers beyond their time with the college – ideally here in the North East.
Family man Scott rather stumbled into a career in the further education sector, after completing a degree in sports science at university. After graduating, he started working with gyms and private health clubs before successfully applying to be gym manager at Sunderland College.
He tells us: “After graduating at the age of twenty-one my plan was to be a PE teacher, so I looked for jobs that were linked to that. I was then offered the role at Sunderland College, which was really the stepping stone for me to move into the Further Education sector, albeit not as a PE teacher.
“What you find is, when you get a job like that at a college, you are expected to become more hands on with the students and they expect you to look after them.
“I then decided to do my teacher training and gained my PGCE qualification, leading to my first role within the FE sector as a sports science lecturer at New College Durham. After that I took a secondment in the quality department, which was a very different role for me. It involved me liaising with awarding bodies and Oftsed and designing new internal procedures to improve the way the college worked. I really enjoyed this side of things and decided to stay with the quality department which led to me securing a promotion to Head of Quality and then to Vice Principal.”
Scott had been with New College Durham for 16 years when he felt he had hit the ceiling and decided to look for a new opportunity.
This took him to Newcastle College in a quality and curriculum Vice Principal’s role before a door opened for him to progress again.
Scott, who is married with three children, said: “My boss at the time was looking after two sites, one was Newcastle College and the other was down south as we were part of a group of Colleges. It was a big job, so he decided to focus on the campus in the south and I took on the role as Deputy Principal for Newcastle.”
Scott’s move from Deputy Principal to Principal came in 2020, at the peak of the Covid pandemic.
It presented a whole set of new challenges, including introducing a testing system for all students within a three-week window, managing remote learning and dealing with the management of his team of staff, some of whom were home working and some who needed to be on site.
“These were crazy times, like nothing we had ever experienced before. It was completely unprecedented, and there were lots of decision that we were making for the first time.
“I was new into the Principal’s role anyway, but then to have to tackle a global pandemic which completely changed our lives for such a long period of time, was tough going. I didn’t even know about Teams or Zoom before the pandemic then suddenly that was how we were teaching our students.
“Alongside that, I had to lead the staff. It was so difficult because some people’s roles enabled them to work at home, while other people had to be on site, so this had to be carefully considered. It was hard, very hard, but we did manage to come through it and gradually things returned to normal.”
So, how did the move to East Durham College come about, and why, given it is smaller in terms of its student numbers than Newcastle College?
Scott said: “I knew Suzanne Duncan, who was Principal before me, very well and we had worked together in various capacities over the 20 years that I had been in the further education sector.
“I also knew the college was in good shape, with an excellent student offering, solid financials, with some good investment in the training facilities and specialist areas, and a ‘Good’ rating from Ofsted (the inspection was the week Scott came for interview).
“The ethos of the college also fit closely with my own personal values, which is all about delivering exceptional learning, enhancing social mobility, and creating outstanding futures.
“Although in terms of size, East Durham College is smaller than Newcastle, I felt this was a really good move for me and good for my personal development, as this is the first college I have worked for that has a land and animal-based offering.”
That offering is at the college’s Houghall campus, in Durham, which delivers unique land-based training courses that aren’t found anywhere else in the Durham area, including animal care and agriculture. The Houghall campus has a host of state-of-the-art facilities, including a small animal care centre housing a wide range of animals, specialist dog grooming studio, dedicated farming and agricultural engineering facilities with 476 acres of land and a stunning equine centre with indoor and outdoor arenas and stables.
This, alongside the college’s Technical Skills Academy, which is supporting the next generation of engineers, welders, mechanics, electrical and heat technicians and plumbers, presented Scott with an opportunity to join a college which prides itself on its excellent academic and work-based offering.
Scott said: “When I came for interview, I got such a good vibe from everyone. It felt like the right fit for me and now I am here, I have not been disappointed. Everyone has been great, so welcoming, and I am enjoying getting to know them all, though with a team of over 500 staff, I am still trying to learn everyone’s names!
“Seriously though, I am really enjoying it. Although these first few weeks have been about settling in and getting to know the teams, the students and familiarising myself with the college’s vast infrastructure, I have also been identifying some of the things I want to focus on and building on the things we’re already good at.”
This includes the 14-16-year-old alternative education provision which the college offers; and its apprenticeship offering, which currently includes over 30 standards in areas ranging from engineering and manufacturing, golf greenkeeping and science manufacturing to business administration and customer service.
He also wants to attract even more people to the college, which currently has 6,000 students across its three main campuses.
And what about strengthening links with the business community?
“Working with businesses is absolutely a priority area for me, as is bridging the skills gap which currently exists. There are a number of reasons for this, one being when you’re young you often want to study the subjects you’re passionate about, not necessarily the ones where the jobs are.
“I want to work with our students to equip them with transferrable skills, so they can be flexible when they complete their education and can either go on to do an apprenticeship or move into work in our region.
“We also need greater transparency from our employers. For example, if they know their business is becoming more technical, perhaps moving into robotics and automation, then we can train our students in this area so when they’ve finished their studies and the jobs are there, there’s a natural fit, rather than responding after the fact if that make sense.
“It’s about looking at the longer term, not just the here and now.”
As a man who grew up in the North East, having spent his childhood in Dunston and now living in Whickham, Scott is also keen to point out that working closely with the North East Combined Authority and the new North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, will be on his agenda, as he wants to ensure that the pool of talent that emerges from the college remains in the region, rather than deciding to move elsewhere in the country for work.
“I’ve got a long list of people and stakeholders that I want to engage with as one of the things I really want to see happen is for more people to choose to work in our wonderful region.
“I am from Dunston in Gateshead and East Durham is fairly new to me, but I have been blown away for the pride that people have in their area and the real sense of ownership they have around the college. They really see it as part of their community and that’s something I want to build on. I want our students to be proud to live and study here and to show them that there are careers out there for them, without them thinking they need to relocate.
“Only by working together can we achieve that.”
