GSM London is one of England’s largest privately held institutions of higher education. Due to the shortage of students, this private college in England has been placed into Administration.
This private college in England has over three thousand five hundred students. A media statement released by the college has informed the students that the classes would stop by the end of September 2019.
The college offered undergraduate and postgraduate courses in business management. It was owned by a private equity firm. The management has been unable to recruit students in the numbers needed to stay afloat.
The closure of the college will also result in over two hundred and seventy people losing their jobs.
As this is not a university, the college will not come under “Office of Students.” As a privately-owned firm, there is unlikely to be any government bailouts for the institution.
Since 2006, GSM has partnered with University of Plymouth to award undergraduate degrees.
The closure of private college in England and it’s multiple impacts
The authorities of GSM London maintain that their primary responsibility is towards the students. They claim to have reached out to other institutions who are willing to take on the students from GSM – those students who will need to study beyond the current semester to complete their courses. The college will be assisting the students with the application process.
There are ongoing discussions between the college, the University of Plymouth, Department of Education, and the Office of Students on creating and implement a plan to protect the affected students.
Since 2016, over twenty-two million GBP has been infused into this college. Unfortunately, this could not save the college from the problems it has been facing in the challenging market conditions. The GSM Board also tried to sell the college, but that plan did not work out, and the institution had to be declared insolvent.
Government has been trying to open up higher education for private parties in England. The closure of GSM London will be a setback for these efforts.
It is to be noted that the school education in the UK has been in the news in recent times due to the shortage of funding for state schools.
