THE new principal and chief executive of Bath College, Kevin Hamblin, has spoken about his vision for the college and its Somer Valley campus in Radstock.

Mr Hamblin said he is determined to rebuild confidence at the Radstock campus and ensure further education remains accessible to learners of all backgrounds.

Mr Hamblin said: “When people are at their most vulnerable, that is when leadership really matters.”

His story did not begin in a boardroom but in a working-class household in Nottinghamshire, as one of five children raised in a council house with a father who worked at the local colliery, a personal history that sits at the heart of his educational philosophy.

He said: “The greatest thing you can do, is stand alongside someone when they’re vulnerable, when they need help, and help them realise and believe that they can rise up again.”

He has expressed that his focus is not on replicating past achievements, but on restoring confidence and strengthening the college’s connection with its communities. Rebuilding a sense of pride among staff and students, he said, will be central to his vision for the college.

He also spoke on the realities facing further education today. Many students, Mr Hamblin noted, are vocational learners who want to work, not pursue academic routes. Others arrive having been disengaged for years, often through no fault of their own.

“Go back 40 years,” he reflected. “That was me at 15. I didn’t take exams. FE gave me another chance to reinvent myself.”

He said Bath College is to be reshaped around employability, with learning environments that mirror the real world.

Looking ahead, Mr Hamblin said: “I don’t want Bath College to be somewhere you just get a qualification. I want it to be somewhere you learn how to be employed.”