AFTER leading Bolton Sixth Form College to a ranking among the best in the country, principal Steve Wetton has announced his retirement.

Today, Bolton Sixth Form College is rated as one of the top performing providers in the North West and in the top 10 per cent of the whole country. While other colleges saw a dip in results this year, Bolton Sixth Form saw a rise —the fifth year-on-year rise for the college.

Mr Wetton has realised his ambition of ensuring the sixth form college provides a first class education for the young people of Bolton, who are no longer looking outside the borough for a college place as was once was the case.

He said: “In this sector you can technically retire and because you can it flicks on your radar and you can’t ignore it.

“I want to do a lot of things which I have had not had a chance to do, there are a few things I would like to do before I die.

“I could easily drift on for a while because the college is in a good place, but eight years feels about right.

“The really nice thing is I can think about next year in the knowledge this machine will carry on working, that’s been the prime driver in the past three or four years that the machine does not rely on one person or two people, it certainly does not rely on me"

He added: “I think the college is in a good place, the processes are very robust, the people are very ambitious, the corporation is very good.”

Mr Wetton was one of the few principals who was able to put his mark on the college before it was even built as he was appointed as plans were being drawn up for a new multi-million pound campus for Bolton Sixth Form in Deane Road.

The £30 million campus opened in September, 2010 and its popularity has led to further extensions to provide more facilities for the young people.

The father-of-one, who lives in Kendal, left the world of IT to teach business studies after discovering teaching through his love of outdoor pursuits. He went straight into post-16 education.

Mr Wetton was vice-principal at a college in Huddersfield before leaving to take up the appointment at Bolton Sixth Form, where his aim to was to modernise it and make it the number one choice for those wanting continue their academic studies, as well as providing quality vocational subjects alongside enrichment courses.

He said: “When I looked at what the college was doing in late 2000, it felt like it was crying out to be developed in the same way as many other sixth form colleges had done.

“There was a degree of modernisation required, clearly with the estates, and much of the curriculum.

“Lot of students were leaving the borough to attend a sixth form college.

“I felt there were a few things to be done here which would make the place very attractive to students.

Under his leadership, the college is among the top for progress students make — which is the difference between getting three Cs at A-level or three Bs, with Mr Wetton saying high expectations by staff mean the target is always to achieve the top grades.

“The real satisfaction is that this is the fifth year we have had rises in the success rate, which have been well above sector averages.

“We are so proud of that now that it is working so well,” said Mr Wetton, “Only a few weeks ago when students came to collect their results, there was that that collective pride.”

He added: “Students have chosen to continue their studies and we owe it to them to develop, push and encourage them.

“Every single person wants the students to do well."

Mr Wetton said: “This incremental improvement year on year is sustainable and they can still improve, and we can do it.”

Chairman of the board of governors, Martyn Cox said:”The taxpayer has made a massive investment in Bolton Sixth Form College and Steve Wetton has worked hard to make sure that investment provides value for money by ensure teaching standards at the Sixth Form College have been our number one priority; ensuring our students get the best possible teaching experience in the classroom.

“This focus has meant exam results have improved for five consecutive years in a row. In addition to this he has worked in tandem with Lesley Hart, our finance manager, to put the college in a very strong financial position.

“Excellent teaching and sound finance is what I asked Steve to focus on eight years ago and he has more than exceeded the governors' high expectations. We wish him all the best in his retirement.”