Nottingham College bosses say the institution has now "stabilised" its finances - and they have shared upcoming plans for the organisation. The college is one of the largest in the country, with more than 20,000 students, around 1,200 members of staff and more than 300 courses taught.
In November 2020, the Government issued the college with a financial notice to improve. At the time, the Education and Skills Funding Agency said the intervention was "triggered by our ongoing concern over the college's serious cash flow pressures".
The college had also been told that it required improvement following an inspection by Ofsted in 2020. However, the most recent Ofsted inspection in November last year rated the college as 'good' - and bosses there have said its financial situation has now improved.
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A spokesperson for Nottingham College said: "The work we've done over the last 18 months to stabilise our finances, provide for improvements and efficiencies in our estate and prioritise investment in the quality of our curriculum offer means that not only have we achieved an improvement in our Ofsted grade, but we have implemented, and continue to deliver, a financial recovery plan that sets us on course for a positive financial future. This includes ongoing investment to further enhance our high quality future ready learning environments.
"However, the college is not immune from the financial challenges that the country is facing due to rising costs and an economic slowdown, and for this reason we continue to operate cautiously." As a 'good' rated institution, the college is able to unlock improved financial opportunities and develop an even broader curriculum with new courses and qualifications, such as the health and social T Level it will be offering from this September.
The college's science department has also recently secured more than £1million in funding from the Office For Students, which is a funding body for higher education. The funding has gone towards providing top-of-the-line equipment at the college which is primarily only used by professionals and universities.
Chris Petch, faculty area manager for science, said: "We went up against other colleges and had the strongest plan." The college has a wide range of science programmes, as well as a blood splatter room and crime scene house at its site in Basford, which is used by students studying forensic science.
Senior science technician Nicola Clements said: "It's to give them (the students) that hands-on experience to work with professional equipment and so they are ready to walk into a lab."
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