Further education: Colleges cut thousands of student places
According to BMC, it has had to make reductions to a several programmes.
That includes English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, which especially help newcomers to Northern Ireland learn English.
The college has withdrawn GCSEs in French and Spanish and cut GCSE English courses.
Evening A-level classes, targeted at adult learners, have also been reduced.
Essential skills classes. which often help students get qualifications in English, Maths and IT have been reduced, along with some community education programmes.
Evening leisure courses in subjects like DIY joinery, bird watching, jewellery making, and Tai Chi have also been cut.
That in turn has meant that work for part-time staff has been reduced.
Meanwhile, speaking to the economy committee on Wednesday, Tommy Martin from the South Eastern Regional College (SERC) said there were about 160 individuals this year who had enrolled in courses who were then unable to be offered a place.
He also said the college was facing a 10% reduction in apprentices from last year.
BMC alone has had a cut of £6.8m in funding compared to 2025/26.
As a result, it has cut planned student enrolments by more than 2,500 – from around 19,100 students to around 16,500.
Adult learning, evening and leisure courses have been especially affected.
