Burnley College principal Karen Buchanan resigns from her post

News of Mrs Buchanan’s resignation comes five weeks after Burnley College released a statement announcing that she had been suspended pending an ‘ongoing investigation.’

Jo Grady, who is the general secretary of the University and College Union North West said today that while Mrs Buchanan’s departure from Burnley College ‘could not come soon enough’ the new senior leadership team ‘still has much to do to restore the workforce's faith. ‘

She added: “The investigation must be comprehensive, and its findings made public, including the real reason for the principal’s departure. Until then, staff will rightly remain concerned about the strategic leadership of the college."

Concerns were raised in early May about the absence of Mrs Buchanan, by the UCU North West, which said it had been contacted by ‘worried’ staff who were concerned over who was in charge at the institution. In a statement released to the Burnley Express on May 12th a spokesman for Burnley College said that Mrs Buchanan was ‘currently absent for personal reasons.’

A spokesman for Burnley College said: “The college can confirm that Karen Buchanan has resigned from her position as principal of Burnley College and is currently serving her notice. As previously confirmed, Karen Buchanan is presently suspended due to an ongoing investigation, which has not yet concluded. We naturally cannot comment on that investigation whilst it is ongoing. Kate Wallace continues in the role of Interim Principal.

“With regard to the wider matter of Ofsted, we confirm that a routine inspection has recently been conducted by Ofsted and the college co-operated fully with that inspection. We understand that the inspection report will be published imminently and available for public consideration at that stage.”

Mrs Buchanan began working at Burnley College in 1986 as a part-time lecturer and became deputy principal in 2011 before taking on the role of principal in 2017. The college employs almost 700 people and was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted in 2021. Another inspection was carried out by Ofsted inspectors several weeks ago and the report is due to be published soon.