Star Comment: Merger is lesson in the future
You can see the announcement of a proposed merger between Shrewsbury College, Shrewsbury Sixth Form College, and New College in Wellington, to create a single sixth form college group, as a move based on the "together we are stronger" principle.
Or you could see it as them huddling together in a storm.
Quite probably, both apply.
The merger, assuming it happens, will create what is claimed to be the largest sixth form college in the country.
With the writing on the wall for post-16 education, they can tell what is coming their way and are acting accordingly. Three months ago a survey by the Sixth Form College Association warned that some colleges were being forced to drop courses in languages and sciences amid fears of funding cuts.
At that time the principal of New College, Fiona O'Brien, said financial pressures had forced the college to drop Spanish from its curriculum. She said that while the Government was investing in schools, this was coming at the expense of further education colleges which did not have their budgets protected in the same way.
Speaking at the same time, Martin Ward, principal of Shrewsbury Sixth Form College, said his organisation had faced cuts of about £1 million a year since 2011.
Not exactly happy days in post-16 education, then. On the face of it this merger looks like a sensible move.
As you would expect, the mood music being played by the principals is very positive. They are, they say, in a good place financially, but are acting to pre-empt any further Government cuts.
What students and parents will be anxious to find out is what difference a merger will make in practice, while staff will wonder if their jobs are going to be safe.
There is going to be a new name for the sixth form college group, but each of the three colleges is going to retain its own name, own identity, and own principal. Students will continue to apply to each college separately.
So it's a case of "together we are stronger" but "we are still separate." This is not impossible, of course, but the pressures as time goes on are going to be pressures that will push these colleges more closely together.
The landscape for post-16 and higher education is changing. We may see a lot more of this sort of thing happening across the country.
