SEVERAL high-profile courses at NEW College are facing the axe and some will be scaled back severely after Government funding for adult courses was slashed dramatically.

And, according to the college's principal Neil Bromley, the news could mean more than 2,000 adult students across Redditch and Bromsgrove will have to be turned away in September.
The award-winning establishment is among colleges across the country to have been told that funding for adults 19 and over will shrink by up to 25 per cent as the Government seeks to slash £200million off its budget.

And that means fewer than 9,000 adult students will be enrolled at the two campuses in September, compared to the high of almost 20,000 students who were signed up in 1999.
Qualifications in bricklaying, plastering, electrical installation, fashion, computing, catering, care and counselling are among the courses that could be affected.

The cuts could also mean fewer language classes, larger groups in adult literacy programmes and fewer courses preparing adults for higher education.
A final decision on which courses will be closed and those to be scaled back is expected to be taken by June - the college prospectus for adult learning will be delayed by two months and will be published in July.

Mr Bromley, who retires at the end of March after 11 years at the helm, confirmed that places for school leavers were safe, but that night classes and other part-time courses for adults would simply disappear.
"When I came to NEW College, we enrolled almost 20,000 adult students annually - next year it will be below 9,000.
"Of course we recognise that any government is going to have to reduce public spending – it’s just a pity that this reduction falls on a group which has already had to bear more than its fair share of pain.

"We are being told we should increase the fees we charge adults to make up the shortfall, but course fees would have to more than double in order to make these courses viable.
"There’s no evidence that individuals could afford this, especially in a recession," he added.

Mr Bromley did praise the Government for protecting funding for students enrolling on full time courses next September, especially as applications to the college from school leavers are 25 per cent up on last year’s record level.

redditchstandard.co.uk