Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has tried to warn City and Islington College governors against plans to merge with Westminster Kingsway College, branding the proposals “too accepting of the government’s agenda”.

In a letter to the board, Islington North MP Mr Corbyn (pictured right) said he sympathised with views put forward by college unions, including the University and College Union (UCU), about the plans.

“The proposals are too accepting of the government’s agenda of area-based reviews, most likely leading to ‘fewer, more resilient colleges’ and a loss of jobs and courses, particularly those providing for the most marginalised,” he wrote.

“As suggested by the unions, the two colleges do perhaps need to consider the wider picture of educational provision across the capital and the diverse needs of local communities.”

“My front bench team will do everything we can to resist further attacks on the sector,” he added.

City and Islington College, which was rated outstanding by Ofsted when it was last inspected in 2008, and Westminster Kingsway College, which was rated good overall by Ofsted when it was last inspected in 2011, announced plans to work more closely together in July.

A consultation on a possible merger closed on November 6. A spokesperson for City and Islington College said the result was expected following a meeting of its governing body on December 9.

Both colleges declined to comment on Mr Corbyn’s letter.

Meanwhile, South Worcestershire College has revealed plans to become part of the Warwickshire College Group in the latest college merger proposal to be announced.

South Worcestershire College’s planned merger with the six-college Warwickshire College Group, which interim principal David Ansell calls “very much a voluntary act”, is designed to ensure the long-term future of the college.

“We’re a very small college, and given the way funding was going, it has become an increasing challenge to make a small college work as an independent institution,” he said.

Angela Joyce, group principal of the Warwickshire College Group, which was rated as good in April, said: “We are delighted that South Worcestershire College has chosen us as their preferred partner for a merger.

“The merger will enable a more extensive and coherent apprenticeship, further and higher education offer in Worcestershire, developed alongside employers and partners across the region.”

Mr Ansell said he expected a detailed merger proposal to go to both boards of governors in February, before going out for consultation in the spring.

He said it was “simply too early to say” what shape the merger would take or whether there would be any job losses at the college, which was rated good overall at its most recent Ofsted inspection in November 2013.

Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw today launches the 2014/15 annual report armed with the results of nearly 180 FE and skills inspections.

The education watchdog’s preview commentary on today’s launch contained little for FE and skills, focusing largely on school matters, but a spokesperson told FE Week that one of the issues Sir Michael would reflect on was devolution.

Sir Michael would, the spokesperson added, say in the report that if cities like Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield were to be the engine rooms of a “northern powerhouse”, they need to work harder at closing “skills gaps”.

However, he will be able to draw conclusions on the sector from 177 inspections of FE and skills providers last academic year. Included in this were 48 inspections of general FE colleges between September 1 to August 31 (for 2014/15) — which resulted in two ‘outstanding’, 15 ‘good’, 26 ‘requires improvement’ and five ‘inadequate’ ratings’.

That overall number was down from 81 in 2013/14 — when there were five ‘outstanding’, 45 ‘good’, 27 ‘requires improvement’ and four ‘inadequate’ report ratings. The results for 2013/14 saw Sir Michael renew his questioning of the college sector’s record on employer engagement.

There were 114 inspections of independent learning providers (ILPs) last academic year — with four ‘outstanding’ results, 53 ‘good’, 45 ‘requires improvement’ and 12 ‘inadequate’.

It compared to 140 inspections in 2013/14 — with four ‘outstanding’, 83 ‘good’, 42 ‘requires improvement’ and 11 ‘inadequate’ ratings.

Meanwhile, of 15 inspections of sixth form colleges (SFCs) in 2014/15, there were no ‘outstanding’, seven ‘good’, five ‘requires improvement’ and three ‘inadequate’ report ratings.

It compares to 31 inspections in 2013/14 of SFCs — resulting in two ‘outstanding’, 19 ‘good’, nine ‘requires improvement’, and one ‘inadequate’ rating.

Stewart Segal, Association for Employment and Learning Providers’ (AELP) chief executive, called for changes to how the annual and individual Ofsted reports measure success.

“Ofsted tends to focus on data and technical measures such as completion and timely completion as its way of judging success,” he said.

“But AELP always proposed a basket of measures which gives much more emphasis to outcomes for learners, impact on business and satisfaction levels of apprentices.

He said this was needed for inspections of ILPs as “work-based training is more complex than measuring classroom-based courses” and “too often [current] measures like completion rates are misunderstood”.

Andrew Harden, national head of FE for the University and College Union (UCU), said: “The conclusions of the [annual] Ofsted report should not be divorced from the challenging context within which the sector finds itself.

“The FE sector has faced several years of upheaval, with massive budget cuts and a raft of government initiatives including apprenticeship trailblazers and 16-19 qualification reform.

“Staff in FE have continued to achieve great results with reduced resource and this should be recognised.”

Follow @FEWeek for live coverage of the Ofsted annual report launch from 10am at One Great George Street, Westminster.

Association of Colleges president John Widdowson is due to tell MPs about how well the FE sector delivers higher education tomorrow.

He will speak on the quality of higher education in a Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee session.

It will come a day before Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission chair Alan Milburn will share his views on FE funding in the penultimate session of the House of Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility.

The BIS committee is holding an inquiry entitled Assessing the quality of Higher Education and will hear from staff, student and sector representatives in what will be its second evidence session. A panel using metrics to assess quality will also participate in the hearing, which takes place from 9.15am.

Mr Widdowson is expected to speak as a witness from 10.40am, alongside a number of university professors and vice-chancellors. Other speakers tomorrow morning include Megan Dunn, president of the National Union of Students; Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union; and Stuart Cannell, student reviewer with the Quality Assurance Agency.

Mr Milburn will be joined in his session  the following day by Jack Feintuck, head of policy at the commission, and they will discuss any changes to the funding of FE that might improve quality outcomes for middle attainers and underserved groups.

Former Labour MP Mr Milburn became chair of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission in July 2012. Other topics he will address will include the work of the Commission, and how to engage with employers on youth unemployment and imbalances in the labour market.

The evidence session is due start from 10.35am, with Professor Ann Hodgson, Professor of post-compulsory education and co-director of the Centre for Post-14 Education and Work, UCL Institute of Education due to give evidence an hour later along with Professor Kevin Orr, School of Education and Professional Development, University of Huddersfield.