In a move that is an interesting indicator of the changes running through the HE sector, two colleges have just announced that they are to become Academy School sponsors.

The two institutions are Barnfield College in Luton and Manchester College of Art and Design. While stories about Academy sponsors are normally not major news, the fact that two HE institutions can raise the money and see it within their business plans to take on such projects really is news. The rationale behind these decisions may be more complicated, but probably boils down to two arguments:

1. If we are going to be getting these students at 17 and they have problems, why not get them at 11 and ensure they have the appropriate educational skills for post-16 education?

2. £2m is a very small price to take over a school whose assets are worth far more and this is a very inexpensive way of expanding from being simply an FE college into a more vertically integrated educational institution.

Barnfield are paying £4m to sponsor two schools - how they convinced the Learning and Skills Council to approve this is a question that we put to the college’s Principal Pete Birkett (we did not receive an answer by our editorial deadline).

Which school Manchester College will be sponsoring has not yet been officially announced, although according to reports they have not had to pay £2m, the amount normally demanded from each sponsor by the DfES. How Manchester managed to become a sponsor for a lesser amount is another interesting question which will probably never be answered by the DfES, but it must be an irritation to Barnfield.

• www.barnfield.ac.uk

• www.mancat.ac.uk