A SOUTH Lakeland college is having to cope with a major period of change without its principal, who has been ill for six months.

The management team at Kendal College is said to be doing "a sterling job" in the absence of Michael Wright, who has been off work since February.

Vice-principal Anne Isherwood has been thrust into the hot seat at a time when the line of reporting and funding at the college is set to change from the auspices of the Further Education and Funding Council to a Local Skills Council.

"At the start of the financial year next July we are facing a different master," said chairman of the governors Bill Broekhuizen.

"This is quite a major issue and will provide further challenges for the college."

Mr Broekhuizen was not prepared to divulge the nature of Mr Wright's illness and was unable to say whether he would be returning to the college.

"We are subject to doctor's medical certificates and obviously we would anticipate that we will have a resolution in the not too distant future because six months is quite a long time," he said.

Meanwhile, management at the college have steered the college through a successful Investors in People (IIP) re-assessment.

"The absence of Mr Wright has put a heavy load on the remainder of the management team but they have coped very well," said Mr Broekhuizen.

"The college is shaping up fairly well and there are significant improvements coming about and you will find Kendal College building itself a strong position in the town."

Earlier this year, the college received a morale-hitting Further Education and Funding Council report which claimed the quality of teaching and learning had declined.

It emerged that, after the inspection, which took place last October, lecturers and administration staff voted overwhelmingly that they had no confidence in Mr Wright's ability to lead the college forward.

Mr Wright was unavailable for comment.