Newbury College and Activate Learning to consult on merger

One of England’s smallest colleges will merge with one of the country’s largest groups next year, following a period of financial turmoil.

Newbury College, which had an income of about £15 million in 2024-25, plans to merge with Activate Learning, which has an annual turnover of £113 million.

Activate, the seventh-largest college group in the country by turnover, currently has about 17,000 learners across eight FE campuses in Surrey, Berkshire and Oxfordshire, while Newbury College has about 3,900 learners at its west Berkshire campus.

A public consultation on the merger is likely to be held in the new year, FE Week understands.

It would mark the end of the small, standalone college which struggled with “fragile” finances and rising costs linked to its private finance initiative (PFI) contract for its building, which ends next July.

 

Shared ambitions

In a joint statement, the colleges said skills minister Jacqui Smith had now signed off the merger plans and the two organisations are working towards a potential merger date of 1 August 2027.

They added: “Building on Newbury College’s longstanding role in its community, significant improvements in its financial performance and the quality of outcomes, the proposed merger would bring together the strengths and expertise of both organisations.

“Our shared ambition is to widen learning and career opportunities for students, support staff development and strengthen partnerships with our employer partners and stakeholders, both within our local communities and the wider Berkshire.”

The merger plans were recommended following an FE commissioner-led structure and prospects appraisal last year.

Other partnerships explored by the college included with Basingstoke College of Technology, but then principal Anthony Bravo rejected the idea, telling his governors a union was “not financially viable”.

Newbury MP Lee Dillon said: “Newbury College plays a hugely important role in our community, and I am really positive about the opportunities this proposed partnership could bring.

“Bringing together Newbury College’s local strengths with the wider experience of Activate Learning has real potential to open up even more opportunities for students and staff, while building a strong future for further education here in Newbury and west Berkshire.

“I look forward to seeing the proposals develop and hearing the views of students, staff and the wider community as the consultation moves forward.”

Rare PFI deal ends

Newbury College was handed £1.5 million in 2024-25, via an “advance of funding” agreement with the Department for Education but was placed in intervention when it failed to repay at the agreed time due to a “cashflow gap”.

The department converted the debt into an emergency funding package in December 2025 after awaited proceeds from the sale of land “did not arrive as planned”.

Its accounts for 2024-25 showed a £1.6 million deficit following a £1.5 million shortfall the previous year.

Newbury College is due to reach the end of its 25-year PFI deal in July next year, after paying £40.5 million for a building which originally cost about £10 million.

Ongoing costs associated with the deal have also included interest on its debts, “lifecycle” payments for building upkeep, and maintenance, cleaning and security.

Since 2018 its annual charge to contract owner Equitix, part of global investment firm Tetragon Financial Group, has shot up from between £1.2 million and £1.5 million to £2.5 million.

College interim principal Lee Probert and Equitix have both previously told FE Week that the PFI deal funded facilities that were of an “exceptional standard”.