A woman credited with turning around a debt ridden, poorly performing college has announced she is to step down.

Five years ago Epping Forest College, which has a student population of approximately 4,000, was on the verge of financial meltdown due to the cost of an expansion and judged inadequate by Ofsted.

Jeannie Wright was among a group of experts called in to devise a rescue plan and she was only expected to spend three months at the college.

Now she is finally leaving after five years having turned the college’s fortunes around, with Ofsted praising its leadership and progress made.

“[The college] was in a very, very bad way,” she said.

“I inherited a college that had massive financial problems, a huge deficit. Everybody said that it could not be done.

“I came here for three months originally, but I stayed because I thought it could be done. I saw that the staff wanted it to change and they had the capacity.”

In 2008, Ms Wright took on the role of principal despite having to commute weekly from her home on the Isle of Wight.

Over the last five years, Ms Wright has racked up around 42,492 commuter miles – the equivalent of travelling around the world one-and-a-half times.

However, the journey did sometimes take its toll.
She said: “There were days when I just wanted to shut the door. I questioned what I was doing, but it was all worth it.

“We are now outstanding financially, something which is very rare in the days of declining funding and we are still investing.

“The outcomes for our learners are in the top ten per cent of all colleges, and our retention rate is in the top five percent.”

Ms Wright, who praised staff and students for their hard work, said her time at the college would be one of the most memorable spells of her teaching career.

“I will always remember the day we got the first Ofsted results and the teachers got an envelope each with their comments from the inspector - there were lots of tears,” she said.

“Epping Forest College has gone from the bottom to the top in five years. But the best bit for me is seeing the confidence in the staff.”

Mrs Wright is set to retire and determined to remain busy.

She said: “I have a bucket list by my bed, I want to start ticking things off.

“I always said I was going to retire at 60 and I am sticking to that.”

The latest Ofsted report published in June said some improvements were still needed, but rated the college’s management as ‘good’. 

Vice Principal for the College of North West Kent, Penny Morgan, will take over when Ms Wright leaves on December 13.