Di Batchelor – Principal of Abingdon and Witney College and current OxLEP board director – has been awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Year Honours for her services to further and adult education.
Di was appointed Principal and Chief Executive of Abingdon and Witney College in 2016 after a successful 36-year career working within education services across the county.
Since Di’s leadership, the college has delivered some of the highest achievement rates in England for 16 to 18-year-olds, apprentices and higher education students studying for degrees at the college.
Throughout her career, Di has been able to lead the way for change in further and adult education and has transformed the lives of many in the county by providing high-quality education to those who need it most.
Di said: “I am quite amazed to have been recognised in this way and very grateful. I’ve always had the very good fortune to work with fantastic colleagues without whom I couldn’t have achieved anything at all. I am delighted to accept the honour and like to think it belongs to us all”.
Di joined the OxLEP team as a board director in 2018, representing further education.
OxLEP Chief Executive – Nigel Tipple – added: “We are honoured to have such a hardworking and dedicated member on our Board.
“Di continues to have a huge positive impact on the education system and therefore on the Oxfordshire community as a whole. This achievement is very much deserved, and we are all extremely proud of Di.”.
Pictured above: Di Batchelor (left) pictured at the official opening of the Local Growth Fund-supported Livestock Technology Centre in Witney.