Principal appointed to lead City College Norwich
9th January 2026
City College Norwich is entering an exciting new chapter with the appointment of Lucy Whitwood as college Principal.
In her new role, Miss Whitwood will lead teaching and learning for 16-18 technical education, drive curriculum development, and oversee the day-to-day management of City College Norwich, ensuring students continue to benefit from outstanding educational opportunities.
Jerry White will continue in his role as Principal and Chief Executive of City College Norwich, Easton College and Paston College, operating as a college group.
Lucy Whitwood, Principal of City College Norwich
Miss Whitwood began her career in Further Education at City College Norwich in 2011 as a lecturer in Sport Science. She progressed into the College Management Team five years later, undertaking roles as Head of Department in Health, Social Care and Childcare and then Inclusive Learning and MINT.
During this time, she was responsible for curriculum development, quality improvement and stakeholder engagement across these sectors. This included leading the wave one T Levels in Childcare.
Miss Whitwood joined the Senior Management Team as Director of Technical Education and Apprenticeships in 2022 and during her time in this role has led the advancement of our technical and vocational curriculum. She has worked with Curriculum Heads of Area to develop unique and outstanding teaching and learning experiences for our students and apprentices across a diverse range of sector areas.
Under Miss Whitwood’s leadership in this role, City College Norwich has become established as one of the largest T Level providers in the country, with our T Level students consistently exceeding national success rates. At the same time, she has supported the continued development of a broad and successful Apprenticeship offer for more than 1,300 apprentices annually.
Miss Whitwood’s expertise in curriculum development, quality assurance and improvement has seen her undertake work alongside Ofsted. She has also led local and national professional development opportunities aligned to 16-18 technical and vocational qualifications, contributing to the work of sector partners including the Association of Colleges and the Education and Training Foundation.
Miss Whitwood said:
I am really excited by the opportunity to move into this role and to continue to advance the exceptional technical and vocational educational opportunities that are created every day by our staffing teams and external partners.”
The appointment of Miss Whitwood forms part of important changes to the college group Senior Management Team, designed to strengthen leadership and support our continued transformation.
Following a period of interim arrangements, a comprehensive review of the senior structure was undertaken to ensure it reflected the size and ambitions of our organisation today. This process has supported the creation of a new leadership structure which is cost neutral against our college budget, with no increase to spending on the senior team.
The new structure is built around three key pillars essential to the success of the college group:
- Outstanding learning opportunities for the community
- Excellent facilities and infrastructure to support those experiences
- Strong financial foundations to enable continued investment
To deliver on those priorities, three Chief Officer roles have been introduced, each responsible for one of the pillars. These are alongside the three new Principal positions to provide clear and visible leadership for each of our colleges, while also overseeing key cross-group functions such as Inclusive Learning.
In addition to Miss Whitwood’s role at City College Norwich, Mathew Scott has been appointed as Principal of Easton College, and Tom Smith as Principal of Paston College.
Jerry White, Principal and Chief Executive, said:
These changes mark an exciting step forward in our journey to become “future ready” and I am delighted to have Lucy, Mat and Tom leading our three colleges. They will enable us to celebrate the unique strengths of each college within our group while continuing to evolve and deliver exceptional education and training for our communities.”
In addition, other key roles within the senior team have been evolved with a new Executive Director for Business Development, Apprenticeships and Adults bringing all our key functions related to employers together, and a Vice Principal for Safeguarding, Inclusions and Student Services supporting our students in a variety of ways to succeed at college. The importance of our support services in Human Resources and in IT, Digital and Registry functions have also been consolidated in Executive Director roles,
Recognising the importance of financial sustainability, the college is also establishing a new senior leadership role focused on driving our commercial strategy and increasing non-governmental income, ensuring investment in students and staff.