New Year Honours: CBE for South Tyneside College boss

Lindsey Whiterod has been awarded a CBE, four years after receiving an MBE.

Dr Lindsey Whiterod has been given the honour four years after being handed an MBE.

Dr Whiterod, who is chief executive of Tyne Coast College, which formed last August from the merger of South Tyneside College and Tyne Metropolitan College, oversees the studies of 16,000 full and part-time students.

She was principal and chief executive of South Tyneside College from 2009 until 2017, when the merger took place.

She has also supported once-failing primary school Ridgeway Primary Academy, which is now one of the highest-achieving in the country.

Dr Whiterod also directs operations at the North East’s second-largest further education body, so is one of the North East’s most influential voices in her field.

Her honour was awarded in recognition of her services to education and to the borough of South Tyneside.

She said: “It is a great honour, albeit a surprise, to be awarded a CBE.

“I am thrilled that my work has been recognised in this way.

“While it brings great personal satisfaction, I have been fortunate to have been consistently supported by many committed and inspirational education professionals.

“They have been instrumental in the success enjoyed by South Tyneside College, which is now known nationally due to its innovative work.

“The same is true at Ridgeway Primary Academy in South Shields, where an inspirational team has transformed it into a nationally high-achieving school.

“My ambition has always been to help deliver learning that provides strong foundations from which people of all ages can grow personally and professionally.

“I am proud to have played my part, along with others, in achieving that at South Tyneside College and at Ridgeway Primary Academy.”

Dr Whiterod trained to be a solicitor and began her career as a law lecturer at South Tyneside College in 1994.

She oversaw a rise in standards at the college from 2009, that led to it being named as England’s best further education college and provider in the 2017 TES Further Education (FE) Awards.

Under Dr Whiterod’s direction, South Shields Marine School, founded in 1861, was supported through a £4.5million refurbishment which strengthened its position as a key global centre of maritime training.