Amersham and Wycombe College could be under threat after the government announced they were stepping in over fears on poor finances, bad leadership and issues with the quality of the college.

Government ministers have placed the sixth form college, which has more than 3,500 students across campuses in Amersham, Flackwell Heath and High Wycombe, in “administered status” – taking control of the leadership.

Officials are now putting declining turnover, a worsening bottom line and the leadership under the microscope following a damning report published by education inspectors.

The move comes after the report outlined a series of required improvements, highlighting that the college has experienced declining turnover and a worsening bottom line since 2007/08.

Inspectors visited the college in September and recommended government intervention, which has now been agreed by Nick Boles MP, minister of state for skills.

In a letter to the chair of corporation at the college, Jenese Joseph, he said: “Amersham and Wycombe College faces a challenging future.

“I shall be looking to you, the other members of the board and the college’s executive team to provide the appropriate leadership in these difficult times.”

Student intake for 2014/15 saw 1,700 students – 75 per cent of which were aged 16 to 18 – sign-up for full-time courses, 1,800 for part-time courses and 250 enrolled on apprenticeship courses.

The college’s catchment area focuses on the south Buckinghamshire area, but extends to Berkshire, South Oxfordshire, West Hertfordshire and West and North London.

Early indications for the new intake at Amersham and Wycombe College suggests bosses will meet their allocation of 1,478 students but will not exceed it, inspectors say.

However, a report published this week shows that inspectors are demanding improvements.

As part of the further education commissioner assessment summary, inspectors said: “ “Amersham and Wycombe College has experienced declining turnover and a worsening bottom line since 2007/08.

“This is mainly due to falling learner numbers but is also due to pressures on its main funding streams, weak leadership and management and poor financial management.”

They added: “The college was inspected in November 2014 and was graded as “requires improvement” for overall effectiveness, quality of teaching and learning and assessment and outcomes for learners. Effectiveness of leadership and management was graded as “good”.

Bucks Free Press:

Amersham and Wycombe College offer a variety of courses.

“The college developed a post inspection action plan but this has not had a major impact on the success rates for 2014/15.

“Some actions that are designed to address quality issues raised by Ofsted were not implemented until the departure of the principal in March 2015.”

In recommending that the college should be placed into administered status, they added that it should seek expert support when implementing their recovery plan.

Mr Boles added: “The FE Commissioner’s key finding is that while the college has a recovery plan covering both financial and quality issues, this is not sufficiently robust and the targets set are not sufficiently focused to bring about improvement in a timely matter.

“In addition. Relationships between the interim executive team and the governing body are not strong.

“While there has been recent significant change at both board and executive team level, I have asked the FE Commissioner to review the position at his first monitoring visit in and, if necessary, to recommend further strengthening.”

Do you or a member of your family attend Amersham and Wycombe College? Have your say by commenting below or email andrew.colley@london.newsquest.co.uk