College steps out from shadow of government scrutiny

The city council has describes the campus as "the jewel in the crown" of its City Learning Quarter masterplan

The lifting of more than a decade of government scrutiny at City of Wolverhampton College represents a new chapter for both the institution and the city, the college has said.

An Ofsted rating of inadequate, combined with a drop in student numbers amid the site's rising debt and job cuts, led in 2012 to a financial Notice To Improve (NTI) being issued by the Department for Education (DfE).

But new campuses, a growing student population and measures to tackle the challenges had since yielded recovery and a bright future, deputy chief executive Peter Merry said.

The financial NTI had been the longest-lasting in the sector, Mr Merry stated.

Confirming it had been removed, the DfE said the college's current leadership team and governing body had "significantly improved the strategic and operational performance, increasing income and rationalising costs".

The college's accounts for 2022-23 "demonstrated improvement in financial health", the spokesperson added.

Peter Merry joined the college in 2017

Mr Merry, who joined the college in 2017, said the rating of inadequate more than a decade ago showed there were failings that had inevitably caused reputational damage.

A fall in the number of 16 to 19-year-olds in the Black Country at about the same time saw student numbers there drop from about 4,000 to 1,800 by 2016-7, while the college estate continued to age.

Alongside that situation, external borrowing and cutting staff numbers became expensive as a turnover of about £40m in 2012 also declined.

"They were challenging times," Mr Merry said.

"We had a significant drop in students... our facilities just didn't compete with other colleges, cutting jobs was expensive... and there was debt."

As government intervention continued, the operational limitations had an impact on reaching potential new students and funding. And at times, Mr Merry said, he felt answers from the government about how to turn things around were not always available or offered.

The college's Paget Road site is to be sold

But, after an independent review into financial weaknesses within colleges, released in 2020, the government began to reset its approach, Mr Merry said, and when colleges were made part of the public sector in 2022, that "smoothed the path" and "a different dialogue" was possible.

The college also built a flourishing relationship with the city council, which Mr Merry said understood the importance of alignment as major redevelopment work went on in Wolverhampton.

It has an £8m automotive and engineering campus opening in September and another campus in a new £61m learning quarter.

To help deal with the historic debt, Mr Merry said the government had taken on some of it and would recoup money through the imminent sale of the college's Paget Road site for housing.

Although the NTI was re-issued in 2020 and not lifted until last week, the college is on much more of an "even keel", he maintained, with student numbers up to 2,300 and expected to rise, in part from the "wow" effect of the new buildings amid the major revamp of Wolverhampton and improved transport links.

"I suspect you won't find a better relationship between a college and council than what we have," Mr Merry said.

"They have remained steadfast... they understand the alignment.

"The only way we have the new campuses is by the council doing the upfront work, the land acquisition to lay the foundations here.

"Our financial health has recovered, skills are very much in demand, the demographic is rising... the city's motto is 'out of darkness, cometh light' and I know that might sound cheesy but it's very much true... We are very much on the up."

The advanced engineering and technology campus is due to open later this year