Worthing College to close performing arts department

Worthing College has announced that it will close its performing arts department due to low student numbers, rising costs and “severe” government underfunding.

From September 2024, the provision will be consolidated with Northbrook College in Broadwater, three miles away.

Helena Thomas, Principal of both colleges, said that current students will be able to complete their second year of study at Worthing College as planned and that the change will not result in any redundancies.

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Staff and students have expressed anger at how the move has been handled, citing the fact that prospective students were only informed of the change last week.

Thomas has apologised for the concern caused by the move but said that she believed the consolidation would result in “a better student experience”.

Andrew Green, chief executive of Chichester College Group, which includes Worthing and Northbrook Colleges, said “severe” government underfunding has left Worthing College unable keep up with rising costs.

“At CCG alone we will see an increase in costs of just under £3m for the 2023/24 year – that includes a £1.2m increase in energy prices as well as higher costs of supplies and services,” he said.

“Department budgets across the sector are reducing because of this, and it means we have to make decisions that protect our staff while offering students the opportunity to study high-quality courses that meet their needs, as well as those of industry.”

But a performing arts student currently studying at Worthing College said that the move to Northbrook College would mean that students lost the option to study arts courses alongside other A-level subjects.

More than 2,000 people have signed an online campaign to save the department.

The plans represent the latest in a wave of cutbacks to creative education provision across the country. Last summer the University of Roehampton outlined plans to close a number of courses in arts and humanties.

And in September, the University of Wolverhampton suspended recruitment to a total of 138 courses, including 19 courses in performing arts at its School of Performing Arts.

There are also plans to cut creative teaching posts at Birckbeck, University of London, which has said the move is necessary to make good a multi-million pound deficit caused by a fall in student numbers.