Fewer colleges 'at risk' of financial collapse

The number of colleges in financial crisis has dropped, the Further Education Funding Council's annual report confirms. Fourteen colleges have been removed from the "category C" financial danger list, leaving 80 colleges (18 per cent) at risk in 1998-99. This compares with 21 per cent in the previous two years. The Welsh funding council also predicted "major improvements" in college finances from a Pounds 190,000 deficit last year to a Pounds 1.9 million surplus in 1998-99.