By Julian Whittle

Last updated 11:33, Friday, 25 April 2008

LAKES College at Lillyhall, Workington, and the county’s other further education colleges could merge with the University of Cumbria.

A secret consultants’ report, obtained by the News & Star, puts forward such a merger as one of six options to reform higher and further education in Cumbria.

The aim is to increase the number of youngsters in education at 18 and reduce the total of 2,000 young people under 34 who leave Cumbria each year.

Amalgamation with the colleges in Workington, Carlisle, Barrow and Kendal would make the university responsible for almost all further and higher education courses in Cumbria.

It is understood that it was commissioned last year by the Higher Education Funding Council, Northwest Regional Development Agency and the Learning and Skills Council.

The four colleges have studied the findings and say they favour closer collaboration over wholesale merger.

A statement issued on behalf of the colleges, the university and Learning and Skills Council says: “This report is the first stage towards strengthening further education opportunities and we anticipate a host of exciting developments.”

The report was compiled by FE Associates, based at Taunton in Somerset.

It says attainment of children in Cumbria is in the top five per cent in the country at 11.

But it falls off as they get older and qualifications in the working-age population are below the national average.

The consultants argue that doing nothing is only a “temporary holding strategy”.

Merger between the university and the colleges would create a “seamless pathway” to vocational qualifications and degrees and confer higher status on the colleges.

But the report warns that merger might “destabilise the university in its critical first years”.

Another option is to merge the further education colleges with each other but keep them separate from the university.

Two options explore various degrees of collaboration and federation between the colleges and the university the route favoured by the colleges.

The final option would divide the county in half.

That might see Lakes College merge with Furness College in Barrow, and possibly Kendal College as well.

JWhittle@cngroup.co.uk