Exeter College and Petroc are holding a public consultation on a proposed merger of the two institutions which they say would create the largest college group in the South West with more than 16,000 students, nearly 2,000 staff and an annual turnover of £100 million.
The proposed new organisation, to be called Exeter and North Devon College Group, would begin operations in January next year as part of what the colleges say is the “direction of travel nationally” for “fewer, larger place-based college groups”.
Exeter College would keep its name and continue to provide sixth form education at its main campus in Hele Road and at several other smaller sites across the city.
Petroc’s Barnstaple campus would become North Devon College while its Tiverton campus, a specialist centre for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, would be renamed the Centre for Progression.
Exeter College and Petroc campuses map. Image: Exeter College and Petroc.
A prospectus published in support of the public consultation says Exeter College’s annual turnover is almost £75 million and Petroc’s £31 million and adds that “despite financial challenges” Petroc expects to return to “good financial health”.
The document also says there are currently 12,500 students and 1,200 staff at Exeter College and 4,500 students at 650 staff at Petroc.
Exeter College and Petroc merger consultation prospectus
Exeter College was established as a tertiary college in the 1970s but has its origins in two schools opened as part of RAMM in 1869.
A 2022 Ofsted report, which judged it outstanding, said the college was then educating 6,640 sixteen to eighteen year-olds as well as 1,800 apprentices and 880 adults: a total of just over 9,300 students.
Petroc, which was created by the 2008 merger of North Devon College and East Devon College, covers a catchment area of 1,500 square miles.
An October 2024 Osted inspection, which graded Petroc as requiring improvement, said 2,273 young adults were enrolled at the college alongside 651 apprentices and 408 adult students, totalling just over 3,300 students.
Petroc and Exeter College governors agreed the merger in principle in April this year following four months of discussions held to explore “what a deeper collaboration might look like” between the two.
The colleges said a period of due diligence would follow in which they would seek advice from external consultants on the “detailed legal, financial and strategic” consequences of the merger.
The public consultation on the proposed merger is open until Tuesday 30 September. Feedback forms can be found on both the Exeter College or Petroc websites.
Its outcome will be published by the end of November.
