Former Chichester College Group principal appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2026 King's Birthday honours

Shelagh, who lives in Midhurst, retired as the government's Further Education Commissioner in January, having been appointed for a set term in 2021.

The DBE honour announced on Friday, June 12, is the female equivalent of a knight. Shelagh was previously appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2021 Queen's Birthday honours.

Shelagh said: “I am deeply honoured and humbled to have been appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in His Majesty the King's Birthday Honours 2026. It has been a huge privilege to work in higher and then further education for the past 30 years and I have been an advocate and am really committed to the opportunities which education and skills provides.

"Throughout my career, including my time as further education commissioner for England, I have worked alongside exceptional colleagues, leaders, governors, lecturers, and support staff whose dedication transforms lives every day and who have made this honour possible.

"Further education plays a vital role in strengthening our communities, supporting economic growth, and enabling people of all ages and backgrounds to fulfil their potential. The achievements for which I am being recognised have been possible only through collaboration with so many talented and committed individuals across the sector.

"I am enormously grateful particularly to my husband but also to family, friends and all those who have supported and inspired me throughout my career. I am hugely appreciative of the outstanding work of the further education sector and of everyone who continues to champion opportunity, aspiration, and excellence in education.

"Thank you to all who have shared in this journey. I remain committed to supporting education and skills development and to helping ensure that future generations have access to the opportunities they deserve.”

Shelagh was also presented with the Lord David Puttnam Award for Lifetime Achievement in Education at the 2025 Pearson Teaching Awards in November 2025, having worked in a London university, colleges across West Sussex and the Department for Education.

Speaking after the lifetime achievement award presentation, Shelagh said: "I love the sector, it is a fantastic sector to work in. It absolutely changes lives for so many younger and older people."

Shelagh had no background in education when she first worked in the sector, as director of finances at Roehampton University in London. She quickly developed a passion for further education, recognising how it could help all different types of people but understanding how important it was to get the figures right.

She said: "Finances are important and running any educational establishment, you need to be numerate. The Chichester College Group has a turnover of £120million, it was £70 to 80million when I was there – it is a big organisation. It now has seven colleges – it was five when I left."

Over the years, Shelagh has drawn on her time in the army, where leadership is defined by service. She was enrolled in the Women’s Royal Army Corps in the early 1980s and then worked in investment banking, qualifying as an accountant.

Shelagh explained: "I was an army officer for six years and then I was working in the city. They wanted someone to run their switchboard and that was something I had done in the army."

Her skill with numbers was recognised and she was sponsored for her qualification as an accountant. But then she met Paul Legrave and family life changed her direction.

Shelagh said: "When I got married, working in the city was never going to work. I went to the University of Roehampton as finance director."

Shelagh and Paul moved to Midhurst when they had their son, Edmund. She joined Chichester College as chief financial officer in 2003, then became chief operating officer and was appointed principal in 2010.

She said: "I was very fortunate in that the principal at the time, Dr Richard Parker, saw some potential in me and he gave me some responsibility in curriculum, so I got to know it and what great teaching looks like.

"You have to understand the basis of teaching and learning. The other great thing for me is I really like people and I wanted to make sure everybody who worked there really wanted to be there. I love the challenge. I had to make redundancies and efficiencies but at the same time, developing world class education."

When she became principal, Shelagh had the ambition to achieve an outstanding rating from Ofsted. The college received that in 2014, and again in 2019 as part of the larger Chichester College Group.

Shelagh said: "It is never about you, we achieved it as a team."

She feels her greatest achievement was not only the Outstanding from Ofsted, but retaining it.

She said: "It is running an Outstanding Ofsted college inspite of merging and opening another, and still maintaining it at an Outstanding Ofsted grade.

"The other achievement is all about the students, the people who have been helped, supported and had life-changing achievements going through colleges."

As Further Education Commissioner, Shelagh travelled across the country, sharing effective best practice with establishments that are in difficulty and supporting them to improve.

Shelagh continues to play a key role in the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Education. She is also a Deputy Lieutenant of West Sussex and was recently appointed chair of trustees at Sussex Cricket Foundation.