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“When people are at their most vulnerable, that is when leadership really matters.”
It is a sentiment rooted in lived experience, and one that underpins the approach Kevin Hamblin brings to his new role as Principal and Chief Executive of Bath College.
In a wide-ranging and candid interview with Dom Chambers on Somer Valley FM, Hamblin spoke openly about his own journey through education, work and leadership, and how it shapes his determination to reconnect Bath College with its communities and give learners the confidence, skills and pride to succeed.
Hamblin’s story does not begin in a boardroom, but in a working-class household in Nottinghamshire. One of five children, he grew up in a council house, with a father who worked at the local colliery. “We didn’t know we were poor,” he reflected. “Looking back, there was deprivation there, but it was a largely happy and secure childhood.” That security was disrupted when his parents separated just before his exams. Disengaged and uncertain, he left school at 16 with no qualifications.
For a time, football provided purpose. A talented young player, Hamblin signed for Nottingham Forest at 14, a source of quiet pride for his father. But when education fell away, work took over. With little expectation of further study, he joined the Coal Board as an apprentice, beginning a career underground. It was there, through day-release and further education, that his relationship with learning was rebuilt.
“I didn’t know it at the time,” he said, “but that apprenticeship gave me my first real taste of FE. It gave me the chance to put right what I didn’t do at school.” That second chance proved transformative. Further education enabled him to qualify, retrain and ultimately move into teaching and leadership. “FE saved me,” he said simply.
That personal history sits at the heart of Hamblin’s educational philosophy. “The greatest thing you can do,” he told Chambers, “Is stand alongside someone when they’re vulnerable, when they need help, and help them realise and believe that they can rise up again.” It is an approach that recognises that many learners arrive not disengaged by choice but shaped by circumstance.
The programme includes Hamblin’s music selections that give added insight into what is important to him. His first choice, the powerful En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor that features in the film Brassed off, reveals a love of brass bands typical of the coal mining heritage of his Nottinghamshire home or, as he observes, the Radstock area. Coldplay’s Fix you and The Living Years by Genesis offer insights to Hamblin’s approach to both working and family life. His last choice, Do you hear the people sing from les Misérables, is his chosen anthem for his educational mission. “It’s about the spirit of collective action,” is how Hamblin introduces the track.
Hamblin brings his outlook to Bath College at a pivotal moment. After a long and successful tenure at SGS College, he had planned to retire. “Purpose is everything,” he explained. “It was only when we talked about Bath College that I realised this role gave me a new one.” For him, this is not about replicating past success, but about reconnecting a college that, he believes, has lost confidence and community connection.
“Pride is an underrated emotion,” Hamblin said. “Not ego, but purpose. Why do something well? Because you want to be proud of it.” Rebuilding that sense of pride among staff and students is central to his vision. “I want people to walk with me.”
The interview also explored the realities facing further education today. Many students, Hamblin noted, are vocational learners who want to work, not pursue academic routes. Others arrive having been disengaged for years, often through no fault of their own. “Go back 40 years,” he reflected. “That was me at 15. I didn’t take exams. FE gave me another chance to reinvent myself.”
His response is a practical one. Bath College is being reshaped around employability, with learning environments that mirror the real world. A college restaurant is being recreated as a working business, alongside other micro-enterprises, including hospitality, beauty therapy and short-term accommodation. “I want realistic work environments,” he said, “safe places to practise, to make mistakes.”
This thinking extends into the creative industries, where Bath College’s plans align closely with Sound Vision CIO, the Somerset based educational charity that partners Somer Valley FM and works closely with schools and colleges across the region. Hamblin outlined the creation of new schools within the college, aligned to local skills shortages, including construction, engineering, rural industries and creative, digital and performance arts. “Radio and podcasting sit perfectly there,” he said. “It’s performance. It’s confidence. And there are many jobs behind the microphone.”
The partnership is timely. Somer Valley FM is the only radio station covering both Bath College campuses, from Bath City Centre to thew Somer Valley campus in Radstock, and since 2024 has broadcast across the region on DAB. Founded by Dom Chambers in 2008, alongside the Sound Vision educational charity established in 2017, the organisations have a longstanding educational partnership with the College, supporting students through media training, placements and confidence-building opportunities. The charity currently supports neurodiverse learners at Bath college.
Looking ahead, Hamblin is clear about his ambition. “I don’t want Bath College to be somewhere you just get a qualification,” he said. “I want it to be somewhere you learn how to be employed.” With major skills shortages locally and nationally, particularly in construction and engineering, he sees the college as a driver of local opportunity, ensuring investment benefits local people.
Reflecting on the interview Chambers said, “ I was looking forward to this conversation, but it soon became apart this was going to be somethings special. Interestingly the 1984 Miners Strike proved pivotal for both of us as it coincided with his apprenticeship and my first ever interview was with miners wives in York supporting the cause. I recognised straight away the exceptional quality of leadership and vision that Kevin brings to our area as a notable educationalist. This is local radio elevated to social action in an interview that maps a fascinating journey that has shaped a clear and compelling vision of how to improve the lives of young people.”
The full interview with Kevin Hamblin is available on Somer Valley FM at https://somervalleyfm.co.uk