College in Kent is first to fall into educational administration

Hadlow College has become the first to collapse into educational administration - a status introduced last year for colleges that become insolvent.

This allows an administrator to run it but giving priority to the interests of students rather than those of creditors as in a normal administration.

The local MP has called for an inquiry and a number of investigations are in progress into what happened at the Kent college - which specialises mainly in agriculture and horticulture for some 10,000 students.

A college statement: “Due to the immediate financial challenges Hadlow College is facing, it was determined that it was necessary to place it into education administration in order to protect the provision of learning for students.”

Its interim principal Graham Morley, who was appointed after the departure of the previous senior management last winter, said: “The most likely outcomes of the process are that the college will either continue in a similar structure under new governance or will merge with other colleges.”

Local Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat said he had been in close contact with the previous leadership about financial matters to help get extra funding.

“To have heard that the college was in deep financial trouble concerned me greatly considering some of the battles for funding we have fought over the past few years, Mr Tugendhat said

“It remains to be determined exactly what has happened but I will be calling for a thorough investigation with those responsible being held to account.”

He added: “I know I’m not the only person who spent a considerable amount of time with the previous leadership trying to get more funding for the [college] group. Its important to know where this has been spent.”

Trade body the Association of Colleges said Hadlow was “an exceptional case under new legislation which has never been used before.

“Because of that, everyone involved in this will be learning as they go, so it is more difficult than usual to forecast what might happen.”

The association said there were a number of investigations in progress, including by the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the Further Education Commissioner, “because of the financial problems the college faces, as well as concerns about how the governance and leadership has allowed the college to get into trouble”.

Mark Smulian