Carole Stott MBE, chair of the board at the Association of Colleges (AoC) and its charitable trust, will step down when her term in office finishes at the end of this year, the AoC announced today.

Ms Stott has been AoC chair since January 2013. She is also chair of WorldSkills UK as well as chair of the governing body at Bath College.

A qualified teacher, she has had a long career in adult and further education, which saw her awarded the MBE in 2012 for services to adult education.

David Hughes, AoC chief executive, described Ms Stott as a “fantastic leader who has been a great advocate for the further education sector”.

Association of Colleges search

The organisation will start to search for her replacement in the near future and plans to have an open recruitment campaign for its next chair.

The “support and guidance” of Ms Stott has been invaluable in helping to keep the organisation “on track and in touch with members,” according to Mr Hughes.

He said: “Her work across various fields within the organisation has yielded much success and massive credit has to go to her for that - she’ll be a big loss but I wish her well for the future.”

Ms Stott commented: “Being chair of the association and working alongside the passionate and committed staff across our membership is a privilege and pleasure - as well as a big responsibility.”

She added: “Our colleges play such an important role in their communities and in our success and wellbeing as a nation. They are forces for good that develop talent, transform lives and support individual and collective prosperity and success. They should be supported and cherished and that is why the role of AoC is such an important one.”

Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow Tes FE News on Twitter, like us on Facebook and follow us on LinkedIn