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“IT’S NOT THE END OF THIS ISSUE” 16:26, 30 May 2025 Greater Manchester colleges are facing an ‘acute’ £20m problem that isn’t going anywhere, Andy Burnham has warned. Colleges across the

city do not have physical space, staff or equipment to cater for all the students who apply, so hundreds are missing out on studying the courses they want. It means school headteachers worry

where their year 11s will end up, and college headteachers fear they can’t keep up with demand. The latest estimates suggest ‘6,000-7,000’ extra places ‘for 16-18 year olds will be needed

in the coming years’ in both academic and technical colleges, and £20m has been set aside to try and meet that demand. But colleges are already turning students away in their hundreds. Last

year, LTE Group, which runs The Manchester College, the city’s largest with 6,000 students, said the situation is ‘the most significant set of issues for our young people since the 1980s’.

It turned away 200 teenagers in 2024, and believed that would rise to 340 this year, and soar to 600 annually by the end of the decade. Although seen across Greater Manchester, the issue is

‘particularly acute’ in Manchester itself, the mayor said on Friday (May 30). That’s partly down to a 148pc rise in applications to The Manchester College, which added last year it saw

‘parents choosing to move house into Manchester to secure a place on the college course’. But Manchester also ‘imports’ students from neighbouring boroughs, so much so ‘nearly half of

Manchester colleges’ students do not reside in Manchester’, Bury council leader Eamonn O’Brien said. Coun O’Brien was speaking at a meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority

(GMCA), chaired by Mr Burnham, where leaders approved a new £20M plan to combat the issue. Half of this cash came from the government, and the other half is ‘recycled’ money from existing

GMCA budgets. It will be spent 'looking at how we provide additional places at colleges’ and not ‘just physical teaching space’, he said. They will also assess ‘what needs are in the

system around workforce and equipment’. He added: “We are going to need more spaces. We are going to need more teachers. We are going to need to look at equipment people have access to.”

Article continues below However, both Coun O’Brien and Mr Burnham warned the £20M is not the final fix for Greater Manchester’s college place crisis, with the mayor summarising: “It’s not

the end of this issue. It’s helpful but there’s more to be done.”