The Bedford College Group’s New CEO

CEO Ian Pryce CBE is due to retire officially on January 2nd 2024 after 25 years as CEO of the Group. His successor will be Yiannis Koursis OBE, the current Principal and Chief Executive of Barnsley College.

Yiannis has been helping transform the lives of students for more than 17 years, during which time he has held senior further education roles in colleges across the UK. He has also spent close to a decade working with voluntary and charitable services. He was awarded an OBE in 2022, and a fellowship by the Royal Society of Arts in 2020 for his outstanding achievements in social progress and development, championing the power of FE to transform lives.

More recently, Yiannis worked with the Gatsby Foundation to help enhance UK education and was invited to consult on the Government’s white paper for FE reform. In January 2022 he was appointed to the Further Education Principals Reference Group to support the FE Commissioner in improving performance in FE colleges.

He is a dedicated national advocate for the sector and works tirelessly to reinforce it as a force for opportunity and growth. He also serves as part of the CBI Yorkshire and Humber Regional Council alongside his work as Barnsley 2030 Board Vice Chair, leading the town’s vision and ambitions for the decade.

In April, two members of our Executive team, CEO Ian Pryce CBE and Deputy CEO Pat Jones, were appointed National Leaders of Further Education. Alongside them, Group Director of Governance Rachel Nicol was appointed a National Leader of Governance by the Further Education Commission.

We are the only college in the UK with three staff appointments at this national level.