The DfE has published a record of the implementation of the post-16 education and training area review programme.

Focusing on meeting the needs of an area’s learners and employers, the principal aim of the area review programme was to create financially stable FE institutions able to deliver high quality provision.

37 area reviews took place in five waves between 2015 and 2017 followed by an implementation phase ending in March 2019.

At the start of the area review process, there were 93 sixth form colleges and 241 FE colleges.

By April 2019, the number of sixth form colleges had reduced to 54 and the number of FE colleges to 193, meaning the number of individual college corporations in the sector had been reduced by 26%. Inadequate financial health ratings dropped from 37 colleges in 2015 to 21 in 2018.

The report concludes that it is too early to assess the true impact of the area review programme on the FE sector, in particular the impact of mergers on both the financial health and quality of the colleges, but suggests that area reviews have had a broadly positive impact to date. Improvements included mergers, joint collaborations and shared efficiencies.

The DfE intends to publish an evaluation report in 2022 focusing on the impact of the programme.

A separate report however does draw conclusions from its evaluation of the area review process. Commissioned by the DfE, and based on the views of those involved in the process, the report identifies lessons learnt from the successes and challenges, and what might be done differently if a similar exercise was undertaken in the future. These include requests for the process to focus less on financial stability if appropriate and more on governance and the quality of provision, and to include school sixth forms and independent providers in reviews for the sake of local completeness and enhanced collaboration.