Cash-strapped colleges are pleading with ministers to stump up an additional £400 million as they face unpalatable choices including large-scale redundancies, increased class sizes, and campus closures to stay solvent.
Demands have also been made for the recently introduced ban on college borrowing to be suspended to ensure capital projects are not abandoned.
The Association of Colleges has today written to education secretary Gillian Keegan warning of a “perfect financial storm” faced by the sector, which involves lower than expected enrolments, high inflation, rocketing energy costs, and staff pay pressures.
Around £400 million is needed for the 2023/24 academic year, according to the AoC, based on increasing funding rates for 16 to 19 provision and the adult education budget to match inflation of 10 per cent.
