THIRTY six full time staff at Bournemouth and Poole College are to be made redundant after the college learned it would receive funding cuts of £2 million next year.

College principal and chief executive Lawrence Vincent said that courses for adult learners would be “particularly hard hit” and there would be a reduction in the number of courses offered.

He said: “This has been an unsettling time for all college staff but we have managed to balance the financial situation very carefully and whilst redundancies are regrettable, other colleges across the UK have been forced into making many more redundancies than here at Bournemouth and Poole.

“It is a tough time for the further education sector as a whole and we are focussing on offering high quality courses but reducing the number of courses we can offer. Where courses have been withdrawn we have consulted with any students affected and offered them support, advice and guidance about alternative provision.”

The news comes in the week that George Osborne delivered his emergency budget which spelt out significant cuts in public spending.

The higher and further education sectors will be hit hard.

Mr Vincent said that after the college’s bid for a new build grant was turned down the college had decided to move its media course from the Lansdowne Media Centre to its Constitution Hill site.

“Regrettably the cuts come at a time when there is even more demand for skills training but we have been forced to make some tough decisions and concentrate our staffing resources in funded government priority areas whilst keeping redundancies to a minimum.”

The college has no plans to reduce its degree programmes, he added.