A new interim principal has been appointed at South Kent College.

Monica Box, who takes over on Friday, August 1, has successfully led City College, Manchester, through merger preparations and a recent Ofsted inspection and is also credited with the turnaround of Calderdale College in West Yorkshire – a college that had many similar problems to those faced by South Kent College.

She has more than 30 years experience in education, spanning comprehensive schools, the youth and adult services and further education.

Having led colleges in large cities and those in boroughs that have a mix of rural and urban populations she feels the key ingredients of success are the same for both. It is essential to set high standards and to have good organisational communications.

Following South Kent College governors’ recent decision to find a partner college to merge with it, she says it is important that it should not wait until the merger process takes place to improve.