At The Gathering on August 17th we held a workshop on the impacts of college regionalisation. The workshop - 'How far would you travel to be a hairdresser?' - looked at the pros and cons of college restructuring and the work NUS Scotland and sparqs will be doing to support this through Partnerships for Change.

Delegates discussed the impacts of regionalisation (and cuts) could be for places, courses and different groups of students. In particular we looked at what would be good and bad about three different colleges centralising their hairdressing courses at just one location. You can view the presentation online here.

Some key issues raised were:

• Colleges could lose their individual identities and there could be a 'culture clash' between students/staff from different colleges
• Students might not be able to afford to travel to a different college or the hassle of travel may put students off altogether
• Different colleges may have different reputations for hairdressing - some better than others - and this could be damaging
• Students with work, family, caring, or other commitments may not be able to travel to study
• Opportunities to study the course may be reduced due to a lack of space, staff or resources
• There could be a positive impact for students as they would meet more new people and experience different things
• Colleges could save money and avoid having to make cuts elsewhere

This is just one of the many issues which will come up as part of the significant changes in the college sector. If you need advice or want any more information on the session, or the issues, contact graeme.kirkpatrick@nus-scotland.org.uk