The future of a town college has been thrown into doubt after a judge agreed to remove a legal agreement which meant the site could only be used for education.

Malvern Hills College closed in 2021 after owners Warwickshire Colleges Group (WCG) said the site was “unviable” because of falling student numbers and put it up for sale.

A judge ruled in favour of WCG at a hearing at the High Court on June 14 which means the covenant protecting Malvern Hills College will now be lifted – paving the way for the site to be potentially sold for housing.

WCG’s chief executive Angela Joyce said the judge’s ruling confirmed what the group had been saying since 2020.

The campaign group Save Malvern Hills College said it was “devastated” by the news.

WCG took over Malvern Hills College in Albert Road North in 2016 but the group shut its doors five years later claiming that falling numbers made the college unviable.

A covenant was placed on the Malvern Hills College site by the council in 2008 – a legal restriction that can only be lifted by Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) if it found there was no “functional need” for a college in Malvern and Malvern Hills District Council was happy with the ruling.

The ESFA then came to that very conclusion in 2021 – having only assessed the government-funded courses for 16-to-19-year-olds and not the self-funded adult courses the college mainly provided – and WCG asked for the covenant to be lifted but Malvern Hills District Council continued to refuse.

For two years, the campaign group Malvern Hills Arts and Community College worked to raise funds to buy and reopen the site.

A bid of £1.2 million, backed by Malvern Hills District Council, Worcestershire County Council, and a £400,000 donation from local philanthropist Colin Kinnear of the Bransford Trust, was made earlier this year but WCG said the move “lacked a business plan.”

WCG’s chief exec Angela Joyce said WCG was still open to offers and was willing to strike a deal which would see the site sold to the community but it will be exploring other options and even leasing the site until a sale is agreed.

She said it was “disappointing” to have to go to court.  

“Malvern Hills College was different from almost all colleges in that it provided adult leisure learning which did bring benefits but did not qualify for government funding which focuses on skills training,” she said.

“We are not here to profiteer, but as a charity, our governors do have a duty to achieve appropriate value for our assets.

“It is disappointing that we were forced to pursue court proceedings and endure pointed and personal criticism to reach this point when we have simply remained consistent and transparent in our approach since November 2020.

“Our efforts have been continually disrupted by voices speaking in the media, commentary without understanding the full landscape and, disappointingly, intimidating behaviour.”