Another university technical college project has been abandoned, after its trustees said the government had withdrawn its support.

Guildford UTC, which was due to open in 2018, was approved by education minister Lord Nash in March 2015.

However, its trustees, who include Royal Holloway, University of London; and Surrey County Council, have now announced it will not go ahead.

Last month, Greater Manchester UTC became the seventh UTC to announce its closure, blaming difficulties recruiting pupils. Three others had been aborted before opening.

Two years ago, Lord Nash said the proposed Guildford UTC would “provide Surrey with generations of skilled cyber-security, engineering and computer-science experts. It is a perfect example of how we are placing technical education on a par with academic learning, while helping our thriving economy to flourish”.

Government ‘no longer supportive’

However, in a message on the proposed UTC’s website, its trustees said: “It is with regret that we post this message to inform you of the cancellation of the project to open a university technical college in Guildford. Unfortunately, the Department for Education is no longer supportive of the project and has decided not to proceed further with it.

“The trustees of the proposed UTC are extremely disappointed. We believe we had a strong proposal and had made good progress towards setting up an exciting academic and technical option for 14-18-year-olds in Guildford and the surrounding area.”

They added that they remained “strongly committed to high-quality technical education and to addressing the skills gap in this area”.

The news follows last month’s spat between former Conservative education secretaries Lord Baker - who co-founded the Baker Dearing Educational Trust, which champions UTCs - and Michael Gove.

In a column in The Times, Mr Gove said the policy, brought in under the Coalition government, had “all gone Pete Tong”, arguing that some schools saw UTCs as a destination for underperforming pupils, while parents and children thought 14 was too young to opt for a more “specialist path”.

In response, Lord Baker said the closures of UTCs had been due to “failure in leadership by principals and governing bodies”.

Also in February, the government decided to force councils to tell parents about UTCs and studio schools in their area, in a bid to help the with recruitment.

The DfE has been contacted for comment.

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