A groundbreaking college merger in Bucks has been given the green light, with the current Amersham & Wycombe College Corporation looking set to close down in May this year.

The milestone merger with Aylesbury College was being discussed in July last year as education bosses believed the troubled college’s long-term future could be secured by the move, which would create one single college across the county.

The proposed date for the dissolution, which will see the college’s name also change, is May 23.

This means the Aylesbury College Corporation will receive Amersham & Wycombe College Corporation's assets and liabilities.

A public consultation was launched in November, asking for views and opinions of “key stakeholders” of Amersham & Wycombe College, including parents, students and employers, on the proposed merger.

At the time, Karen Mitchell, principal and chief executive of Aylesbury College, said: “Together our shared vision is to create a combined college that will deliver consistently high quality teaching, with improving outcomes for students across all three campuses.”

The under-threat Amersham & Wycombe College, which was ranked inadequate by Ofsted last year and forced to receive government help, announced it was starting to turn things around after a re-inspection monitoring visit last year.

According to the consultation document, both colleges will retain their existing campuses and courses will continue to be delivered at all three campuses in Aylesbury, Amersham and Flackwell Heath.

Bosses said the proposed name of the merged college will be identified following feedback from the consultation, which ended on January 6.

And all students who have not completed their studies by the date of the proposed dissolution will continue with the merged college on the same campus they were studying at.

To see the dissolution notice in full, or to view the consultation document, go to www.amersham.ac.uk/merger.