One of Wales' highest-performing and biggest colleges has warned staff may lose their jobs as it begins a round of cuts. Coleg Gwent said compulsory redundancies cannot be ruled out in a consultation which ends on May 2.

The college declined to say how many jobs it was looking to shed, or in what areas, but staff said they had been told that as many as 100 posts could go with management looking at £2.5m savings. Coleg Gwent has 18,000 students across campuses in Newport, Cwmbran, Crosskeys, Ebbw Vale, and Usk.

Formal consultation on the cuts has begun with the University and College Union (UCU). Staff are being asked by the college to consider leaving voluntarily. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here.

In a letter to staff college principal Nicola Gamlin described it as a "management of change process" . The letter, seen by WalesOnline, goes on: "The objective at the heart of these proposals are the twin imperatives of balancing long-term financial sustainability with the need to deliver excellent learner experiences and improve learner outcomes."

It adds: "To achieve these objectives we propose making a number of changes both to curriculum and business support delivery models." Ms Gamlin said senior managers understand the impact the plans will have on staff but they cannot rule out the worst. She wrote: "We will take reasonable steps to achieve our aims without having to resort to compulsory redundancies but regrettably we cannot, at this stage, rule out that possibility."

One affected member of staff said: "Staff morale is at an all-time low and staff are fearful for their jobs and futures. Staff have been pooled and being interviewed for their jobs. This means that potentially over 100 staff are affected."

The college said in a statement: "We, like many further education institutions across the sector, are navigating significant financial challenges. To balance the long-term financial sustainability of the college and the need to deliver an excellent learner experience that meets the changing needs of our learners we are undertaking a strategic review of the college’s operations.

"Working closely with our trade unions a formal consultation period has started and we are exploring a range of proposals covering both business support functions and curriculum delivery. As our curriculum has evolved and learner demand has changed the proposals at this stage mean that some curriculum areas are being added to, consolidated, or removed to improve the learner experience.

"It is important to stress that at this stage these are just proposals subject to an ongoing 45-day consultation. Therefore we cannot confirm the number of jobs that may be at risk but it is our aim to avoid compulsory redundancies and this would be considered as the very last resort.

“We are very conscious that this will be a challenging period for staff and are committed to engaging with colleagues and union representatives openly and transparently. Despite these challenges we remain dedicated to offering outstanding educational opportunities for our students.”

A reduction in demand for A-level Welsh in Blaenau Gwent means the college is considering consolidating A-level Welsh on its Crosskeys campus under the plans. Asked to confirm the scale of job losses and which departments and courses are likely to be most affected a college spokesman added: "The consultation period closes on May 2. Since the consultation period is still ongoing Coleg Gwent is unable to provide detailed responses." Last summer 67% of students at the college achieved A*-C A level grades and more than 1,000 learners completed a BTEC qualification.

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