Posted on June 25th, 2025
The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) is delighted to announce that two of its Trustees – Gerry McDonald CBE, Group Principal of New City College and Mark Malcomson CBE, Principal and CEO of City Lit – have been appointed to the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) roster of national leaders of further education (NLFEs). A further Trustee, Andrew McConnell OBE, has been appointed a national leader of governance (NLG) for further education.
NLFEs are experienced serving college principals or finance directors from good and outstanding colleges who have a track record of delivering improvement both at their own colleges, and through working with others. As part of the DfE’s programme of support for the sector, the national leaders provide mentoring to other colleges and work with their peers to support improvement and secure the best outcomes for all learners. NLGs are experienced governors and governance professionals who operate alongside the NLFE programme to provide support to governance boards in the sector.
Gerry and Mark join an existing group of NLFEs that already includes ETF Trustee Dr Sam Parrett CBE. These national leaders serve three-year terms and the total number of them who are CEOs or principals currently stands at eight, with an additional two national leaders who are finance specialists. There are currently twelve national leaders of governance for further education.
ETF’s Chair, Sir Frank McLoughlin, said: “We are immensely proud that the DfE’s recognised group of national leaders of further education includes such strong representation from ETF’s Board of Trustees. These latest appointments recognise Mark, Gerry and Andrew’s ongoing commitment to supporting improvement across the sector and their leading roles in driving the best outcomes for all learners.”
ETF’s CEO, Dr Katerina Kolyva, said: “In exemplifying best practice and supporting improvement beyond their own colleges, Mark, Gerry, Sam and Andrew embody ETF’s mission to raise standards and professionalism across the sector for the benefit of learners, their communities and our wider society and economy. We congratulate Mark, Gerry and Andrew on their recent appointments and wish them well in their ongoing endeavours to identify and support opportunities for improvement within our sector.”
