Julia Smith has been appointed to take over as chair of Writtle College’s Board of Governors.

Julia, who has served as a governor at the Chelmsford-based land college since July 2010, will take over from Lise-Lotte Olsen, who is due to finish her term of office after eight years in the role. During this time, the college achieved a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted inspectors, it opened the Titchmarsh Centre for Animal Studies and was given Taught Degree Awarding Powers, which means it will be able to award its own degrees.

Julia said: “I very much look forward to this challenge as we enter an exciting phase in our history with the ability to award our own degrees and our ambition to further strengthen our Further Education provision, building on our very successful last Ofsted inspection.

“I am firmly on the side of the student and will be championing them throughout my term of office, making sure they get the very best education if they choose to study here with us at Writtle College.”

Julia, a maths specialist adviser and author, is a qualified teacher, with experience in further education and secondary education. She is an Ofqual (Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation) maths subject specialist and a lead for the Association of Colleges in the Eastern Region (ACER). She is also an author for the Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press, and has worked on BBC Bitesize and My Maths.

Julia comes from a family farming background. She married to St Osyth farmer Guy Smith, vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), past chair of the Essex Agricultural Society and a familiar face at the annual Essex Food and Farming Event hosted by the college.

Lotte, a business and training consultant, said: “I wish Writtle College and the Governing Body every success going forward. Hopefully during my tenure as chair we have started to build a sound base for the future and I think Julia will be an extremely able chair to continue this process.”