MORE mergers and closures are expected in the Bible-college sector in the UK, as institutions compete for a declining number of students, principals said this week.
Among the challenges facing the sector is the difficulty of finding universities — currently facing their own financial problems — to validate degree programmes.
There are currently about 30 Bible colleges in the UK, in addition to the Church of England’s theological educational institutions (TEIs). These run a variety of courses, from diplomas and certificates in theology to postgraduate programmes, many of which are now available online. In addition to theology, courses in counselling, youth work, and worship leadership are available. While some are affiliated to particular denominations, others seek to attract students from across a largely Evangelical constituency. Although many were established more recently, some institutions date back to the 19th century.
Mergers are nothing new. All Nations Christian College, which offers “biblical and intercultural mission and ministry training” and joined with Redcliffe in 2020, was itself the product of the merger of three missionary training colleges in the 1970s.
But, this week, one principal suggested that the sector “may be approaching a crisis point”. While questions about over-supply or under-demand had long been asked, many colleges were having to question their short-term viability. Where once a student body of 50 to 100 might have been enough, a “critical mass” of 150 to 200 was now expected. The numbers of people seeking to train in youth work or international mission had fallen over the years, he reported.
Annual reports of various colleges highlight that recruitment is a challenge for many. Besides changing their offerings — both creating and cutting courses — providers are selling assets and seeking to rebuild depleted reserves. A wider backdrop of declining church attendance, stretched church finances, and a cost-of-living crisis affecting students’ ability to afford fees is also delineated, as is the ongoing effect of the pandemic.
This year, the trustees of the Institute for Children, Youth and Mission (CYM) announced that they had suspended all recruitment to its higher-education courses, delivered in partnership with Birmingham Newman University, and referred to a “persistent fall in applications” reflected across the sector. “A critical threshold of students is needed to provide a meaningful learning community and to ensure that students receive a high quality Higher Education experience,” it said. Nexus, which offers degree study in music and worship, has also announced that it is to close.
This week, principals said that their challenges were reflected in the wider higher-education sector. The latest analysis of its financial condition, published by the Office for Students in May, warned that “an increasing number of providers will need to make significant changes to their funding model in the near future to avoid facing a material risk of closure.”
Among the Church of England’s TEIs, questions of viability have also arisen, and a review of their financial condition is now under way. Last month, the General Synod was told that two-thirds of ordinands were now training at one third of the 22 providers (News, 12 July).
Dr Anthony Royle, the Principal of King’s Evangelical Divinity School, which teaches biblical interpretation, said that universities were making cuts not only to their own departments, but to partner organisations for whom they validated degree programmes. This was having a particular impact on smaller colleges, he said. Those that served students unable to attend in person, or to afford higher fees, represented a higher risk to universities, which made decisions based on dropout rates and student numbers. But such colleges also played a vital part in the sector, providing access to learning for people who might otherwise be excluded.
One solution was for colleges to acquire their own awarding and validating powers — something recently granted to Spurgeon’s College by the Office for Students. While there was a possibility that such colleges could serve as validating partners for others, the question of risk and scrutiny by the OFS would remain, Dr Royle said.
This week, one principal suggested that a new, younger generation of his peers were more open to collaboration. Mergers showed a “Kingdom mentality”, Dr Royle said. But it could also mean the loss of certain college cultures and ministries.
“Standardisation and making sure institutions are providing quality educational experiences is a good thing, but we need to also take into account particular contexts, making sure that there is a variety of degree programmes, of cultures,” he said. “One of the drawbacks . . . is that all colleges may all look the same . . . and certain people may feel disenfranchised from the Christian education system.”
Conversations with colleagues had led him to conclude that up to half of all the colleges might close within the next two years.
On Tuesday, the Principal of the London School of Theology, and its Professor of Practical Theology, the Revd Dr Mark Cartledge, said that it remained “unclear” how universities’ review of validation arrangements would shape the sector.
“Recruitment is challenging, and numbers are lower than pre-pandemic levels for sure,” he said. “I anticipate that some programmes will close, others will be streamlined and merged.”
But he reported that most colleges were adapting to the changed circumstances, “exploring new and diverse ways to secure their long-term financial future”, from changing their programmes to seeking international partnerships. “The Government’s decision to keep the graduate visa route following a recent review enhances the potential number of international students,” he said. “I believe there is a future for the Bible college or independent theological college sector, even if it looks uncertain right now.”
“Many of our undergraduates choose to come to us instead of a university because we provide a worshipping community — a critical difference compared to a mainstream university context,” he said. “The majority of our postgraduate MA students are already involved in some form of Christian ministry and study part-time and online, while our research students choose us instead of a university department because of our faculty expertise and our Evangelical spirituality. It is important for the Church that theology can benefit many different types of people at various stages of life.”
Dr Royle, whose students include mature learners and disabled people who lack access to in-person teaching, expressed a hope that articulating his concerns would provoke action by the wider Church. “Churches need to really encourage people to be equipped with the Word of God, to be theologically trained, particularly within such a world that has so many voices,” he said. “I think, if the Church knew about what’s happening across the sector, theological colleges closing, it would want to do something about it.”
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