COLLEGE staff are facing redundancy with one in five workers set to lose their jobs over the summer.

Redcar and Cleveland College bosses have announced consultation has begun as they attempt to balance their books following a £2m reduction in funding.

The news comes as the college, in Redcar, is being inundated with applications from young students and older people retraining in the wake of mass redundancy in the area.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) unanimously condemned the news and the college is set to start negotiations with staff – with up to 50 facing losing their jobs.

Mick Lord, branch secretary of UCU at Redcar and Cleveland College, said: “Staff are once again worried about their future at a time of year when they need to be concentrating on getting students through their exams.”

The unions say the latest round of cuts follow on from job losses last year and is a significant blow to a college that was last year graded by Ofsted as having made significant improvement and gained a grade 2 inspection report.

Jon Bryan, UCU Regional Support Official, said: “Redcar has already had bad news this year with the loss of 1,600 jobs at Corus. These cuts are another devastating blow for the area. It is ironic that with the college having new facilities it is now looking to reduce the number of people needed to deliver quality education and training to the people of Redcar, at a time when they need it most.”

The college moved into a new building less than two years ago and is in the process of constructing a purposebuilt facility to deliver higher education degree courses.

Gary Groom, principal of Redcar and Cleveland College, said: “Applications for next year are currently the highest they have ever been for 16-18 year old learners at this time and additional demand for adult learners is apparent as a result of the closure of Corus.

“The cuts in college allocations have therefore come at a very difficult time for Redcar and Cleveland and the college.”

He added: “Clearly, the demand for training and skills comes at a time where many people are wishing to improve their chances of employment and in some cases take up a complete change of career direction.

“To meet this increased demand the college will be looking to concentrate its staffing resources in funded Government priority areas while keeping redundancies to a minimum.”