A COLLEGE in Worcestershire will close with students to continue their courses elsewhere after a “shake-up” of its operations found it was "no longer viable".

Worcestershire Colleges Group (WCG) announced Malvern Hills College is to close in August next year after it carried out a financial review of provision in Malvern, Evesham and Pershore.

Due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, this was brought forward, and the decision was made to close the college.

It will re-open in March 2021 temporarily to allow students to complete their studies which were interrupted by the pandemic, with full time vocational courses including hair and barbering being transferred to Evesham College.

After Malvern Hills College has closed, WCG will continue using its digital and cyber technology training facility at the Malvern Hills Science Park.

Angela Joyce, CEO of WCG, said: "We have worked hard to maintain the three Colleges in Worcestershire, all of which had quality or financial issues when they merged into the Group, and no major change is entered into without assessing all the consequences.

"Given the widely-known pressures in the FE sector, linked to a decade of funding cuts, we have had to continually drive improvements and like almost all organisations and businesses, COVID-19 has impacted WCG significantly.

"Whilst Malvern Hills College has been a community learning facility for decades, it has not been financially viable for a number of years due to reduced adult education funding and a diminishing customer base.

"The type of education offered at Malvern Hills College is sadly no longer viable for WCG as Malvern Hills College has been financially supported by the rest of the Group since.

"We recognise the important role the College plays in supporting part of the community and we hope we can find a way for the courses to continue for local people to attend."

The shake-up will also include the consolidation of Evesham College and the expansion of Pershore College.

A new-look Evesham College will be created with a revised full-time curriculum which will focus on the technical subjects of engineering, construction, hair, beauty and barbering, motor vehicle and digital arts, including Esports.

Malvern Hills College has around 900 adult learners on part-time arts and craft courses.

The College was the only one in the Group not to re-open in September as the courses are not Government funded and the average age of the students mean they were more ‘at risk’ of the COVID-19 virus.

The small number of younger, Government-funded students have been studying at Evesham College since September.