Ecology college closes all degree courses after losses

A college that specialises in ecology degrees has announced it will close all of its degree courses with immediate effect, with most of its 32 staff placed on notice of redundancy and about 100 students searching for ways to continue their studies.

Schumacher College, based on the historic Dartington Estate near Totnes, Devon, has announced the move after incurring “substantial monthly losses”, local press reported.

Its undergraduate, master’s and PGDip courses – accredited by the University of Plymouth – were already closed to new students but at a board meeting held on 27 August it was decided all provision would cease immediately.

The body that runs the college, the Dartington Hall Trust (DHT), said it was working to support the students on its books to find alternative provision ahead of the new academic year.

Schumacher, which has been running since 1991, has been in financial trouble for some time and last year was forced to postpone the start of its academic year.

It said at the time that a review of provision had been held after the trust’s operations had been affected by “Covid, rising living costs, and an over-ambitious agenda”.

“Schumacher College continues to incur substantial monthly losses and Dartington is unable to underwrite this deficit indefinitely from its limited reserves”, a trust statement said. “The Dartington Board continues to consider viable options for the college to sustain itself, including a proposal from the college’s learning leadership team to secure independence from Dartington, as well as continuation of financially viable, unaccredited courses.”

In a statement, the Office for Students (OfS) confirmed it had been informed that the college was closing its higher education courses, following a decision by Dartington Hall Trust to withdraw financial support.

It said approximately 100 students were currently enrolled on higher education courses at Schumacher, around half of whom were postgraduate students with final dissertations to submit or with dissertations submitted and awaiting assessment.

David Smy, deputy director of regulation at the OfS, said: “We recognise that this is an exceptionally difficult time for students at Schumacher College. We are talking urgently to Dartington Hall Trust to do all we can to ensure that students’ interests are protected in this challenging situation.

“We have been in discussions with the leadership of Dartington Hall Trust about its financial position since September 2023, and had agreed it would stop recruiting new students and work with its validating university, the University of Plymouth, to pursue an orderly exit, with students being taught out at Schumacher College.

“However, Dartington Hall Trust informed us last week that it intended to withdraw funding and so end higher education provision at Schumacher College with immediate effect.”

Mr Smy added that the regulator was “grateful to University of Plymouth for meeting its commitments to the students at Schumacher”.

He said the OfS was “working alongside the university to ensure that Dartington Hall Trust does everything it can to support students to find an acceptable alternative and provide them with appropriate compensation”.

All higher education providers in England are being squeezed by frozen tuition fees and mounting costs, with more closures predicted in the coming months.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com