The country’s smallest sixth form college has become the third college to ever go through the further education insolvency regime, closing with £8 million of debt.
St Mary’s College in Blackburn shut its doors to students and staff this summer after it failed to find a viable merger partner.
The Catholic-run college, which had been open for almost 100 years, became financially unsustainable due to repeated years of falling student numbers, and has been propped up by emergency government funding since 2020.
Accounting firm RSM UK has been appointed to handle the insolvency and published its first report on the process last month.
