college mergers | FE Week

Merger of two London colleges agreed

Two London colleges have finally agreed to merge, more than 18 months after the link between them was first proposed. The College of North West London and City of Westminster College will join forces this summer to become United Colleges Group. The decision was taken at their individual corporation meetings on May 17 and 24 […]

Anger over campus closure after £6 million refurb

A college’s controversial decision to close a campus that had only recently been refurbished – at a cost of £6 million – has put it on collision course with its local council. South Staffordshire College made the decision to shut its Cannock campus after merger plans with Walsall College, which were recommended by two separate […]

Exclusive: North London colleges’ merger called off

A London merger that had previously gone from a three-way to a two-way is now not happening at all. Barnet and Southgate College and Waltham Forest College announced plans to join forces in October, after talks with College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London about three-way link up were shelved. But staff at the […]

London council unhappy with plans for local college to merge with group 300 miles away

A London borough council is unhappy over a planned merger between a local college and a group whose headquarters is 300 miles away from the capital. Lewisham Southwark College and Newcastle-based NCG have opened a consultation on a proposed merger, 18 months after a potential partnership was first mooted. The link-up was the college’s preferred […]

Manchester merger scrapped by FE Commissioner

One of just two mergers recommended in the troubled Manchester area review has been scrapped following intervention by the FE commissioner, FE Week understands. Plans to merge Tameside, Oldham and Stockport colleges have been called off after the FE commissioner Richard Atkins visited at least one of them – forcing them back to the drawing […]

Wave three of area reviews produces four merger proposals

Just five mergers have been proposed in the latest area reviews to have completed – and with one of them already off the cards, parts of the sector are beginning to voice concerns. Five of the seven wave-three review reports were published by the Department for Education on Tuesday (January 10). However, the recommendations for […]

Lewisham Southwark College still wants Newcastle merger despite local offers

A struggling London college is still trying to engineer a merger with a group based almost 300 miles away in Newcastle, despite rejecting offers from both a neighbouring college and a nearby university. Lewisham Southwark College, which last year became the first college ever to receive two ‘inadequate’ ratings from Ofsted in a row, has […]

K College rescuer East Kent College in merger talks with neighbour

A college that leapt to the rescue during one of the most disastrous mergers of recent years now plans to join forces with its neighbour. East Kent College, which took on two of K College’s campuses following the latter’s meltdown in 2014, has announced plans “in principle” to join forces with Canterbury College (pictured above), […]

Insufficient progress for inadequate college

A college that nose-dived from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’ in March has been slammed by Ofsted again for making insufficient progress. Following its second monitoring visit since the education watchdog’s damning report, Mid-Cheshire College was deemed to have made ‘insufficient progress’ in improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and with ensuring learners make good progress and […]