England’s only ‘inadequate’ rated further education college is set to merge.
Furness College has been in FE Commissioner intervention since the Ofsted blow in November 2024. A structure and prospects appraisal was carried out to assess the college’s “future sustainability and long-term resilience”, and Blackpool and The Fylde College (B&FC) was “unanimously” selected as a merger partner.
Leaders at both institutions have now agreed in principle to a merger, citing a “complementary” curriculum offer, particularly in defence
Both boards will now commence due diligence and hope to have merged by this time next year.
Alun Francis, CEO of B&FC, said: “We are delighted and honoured to be selected as the preferred partner for Furness College.
“This is a strong endorsement of the impact our colleagues deliver every day and of our ambitious plans for the future.
Furness College principal and CEO Nicola Cove, who is standing down in October, said: “This is an important step in defining the future of Furness College.
“Our board unanimously approved B&FC’s selection and we’re now entering a period of due diligence and planning to ensure our future merger is shaped collaboratively and is in the best interests of all stakeholders”.
Out of the Furness…
Furness College, based in Barrow-in-Furness, was dealt a grade four judgment by Ofsted in November 2024. Inspectors warned that falling achievement rates, poor attendance and weak quality assurance meant that “too many learners do not receive a high-quality education”.
The 2,000 learner college was subsequently placed in formal intervention with the FE Commissioner, who, in a published report in April, urged the board to act “with urgency” to rebuild its reputation and improve learner outcomes. Within weeks, the chair of governors stepped down and Cove announced plans to leave in October.
A follow-up monitoring visit in April found Furness was making ‘insufficient progress’ on improving teachers’ use of assessments to check what learners and apprentices know and using that information to plan learning. But on improving the leadership of quality, information for governors, teachers’ use of feedback and personal development curriculums for apprentices, the college was making ‘reasonable progress’.
Despite the poor inspection outcome, Furness College has a financial health score of ‘good’ according to its latest accounts.
…and into The Fylde
Francis, who also chairs the government’s Social Mobility Commission, said: “I held an informal briefing with Furness colleagues last week, and we’re looking forward to working more closely together in the months ahead to explore how we can combine strengths and create even greater opportunities for our students, colleagues and communities”.
B&FC, rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, trains around 13,500 learners a year and has ‘outstanding’ financial health.
The colleges are around 22 miles apart as the crow flies, but fall on either side of Morecambe Bay. The trip by road is around 75 miles.
Mergers on the table
This comes amid several other recent merger announcements as colleges seek to shore up their standards and finances.
FE Week revealed this week that Northern College, one of the country’s last remaining independent residential adult education colleges, is in talks to merge with Barnsley College.
Two Cheshire-based colleges, Cheshire College South & West (CCSW) and Macclesfield College are set to partner in July 2026.
In Leicestershire, SMB Group has announced plans to dissolve and merge with Loughborough College on August 1.
Meanwhile in the south west, Bridgwater and Taunton College and Strode College will merge to become University Centre Somerset College Group on August 1, and Exeter College has opened merger talks with Petroc.
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