Governors at Truro and Penwith College are pleased to announce that Martin Tucker has been appointed as the new principal.

Martin will start his appointment on the September 1, on the retirement of the current principal David Walrond.

He said: “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to continue the development of such an Outstanding College for Cornwall’s learners and business community. I am proud to have already been a part of the tremendous success of the College working with outstanding staff and Governors.

“I’m passionate about delivering a high quality student experience for all our learners to allow them to progress to the next stages of their education, training or personal development and in working with the business community to provide training opportunities to boost the skills of the workforce and subsequent productivity and prosperity for Cornwall.”

Martin has a great deal of experience in managing capital projects and started teaching in Cornwall at Penwith College in 1991.

For the past 13 years he has sat on the college’s senior management team as director at Penwith College, a role which has seen him take a lead on the college’s merger with Truro College in 2008 and in the continued development of the college’s provision.

Bob Crossland, chair of governors, said: “Martin’s role to date, as part of the senior management team, his extensive experience in education and reputation in the county is such that he will be well placed to lead the college in the coming years, both to face new challenges and maintain and build on its Outstanding status providing high quality education for the young people of Cornwall.

“Martin has a great deal of experience in managing capital projects and in the next twelve months the college will finish a new building on the Truro campus to deliver a new Institute of Technology. The college is part of a wider partnership but is the sole provider in Cornwall and this initiative will ensure that the college remains at the heart of delivering new high-quality opportunities in digital and engineering qualifications and apprenticeships.”

Martin, who lives with his family just outside Penzance, has been teaching since 1985, having trained as a PE and science teacher. Previous roles include head of PE at Penwith College and programme team leader for sport at Truro, where he played a pivotal part in the department’s expansion.

He introduced the college’s sport academy programmes, along with developing a sports curriculum up to degree level that led to a growth in sport student numbers from zero to 650 in six years.

Since 2007, Martin has sat on the college’s senior management team as director at Penwith College, where he oversaw the merger and development of the Penwith campus and introduced new curriculum areas including automotive, construction and hospitality.

Since 2009 he has taken on growth of the college’s apprenticeship provision, new build projects including the South West Institute of Technology, development of a new college campus at Callywith, Bodmin and investment in sports facilities.

Away for the college, Martin is a director of the Cornish Pirates and director and chair of the England College’s Rugby Football Union.