Merger advantages

The following comments were noted regarding the advantages of the proposed merger:

Improved quality of education across the region

Enhanced pathways between Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) across the region and the potential to help address some of the issues associated with a lack of social mobility

Increased scale, certainty, sustainability, and financial stability

Gaining knowledge and sharing expertise in one group

Greater pool of resources in terms of knowledge, sharing best practice and the number of courses on offer

Synergy from forming a larger group

Becoming a part of a bigger community

The larger group will be able to facilitate meaningful collaboration and share best practice (which sits at the heart of the Future Sussex Skills Improvement Framework), and be able to drive forward the priorities and actions within the Framework

The larger group will be able to work closely with key local stakeholders to both develop and deliver an education and skills strategy and associated plans Expansion of the student voice framework will give students more say over their education

For employers, increased responsiveness, a greater range of products and services, new delivery modalities and a greater geographic delivery of provision

Enable employers to more effectively engage with designing future courses and a curriculum that will meet the needs of local businesses

The complementary strengths of both organisations will be used for the benefit of wider skills needs of regional employers

More opportunities for different show productions, increased budgets, and the possibility to improve facilities at Northbrook MET sites