Telford College has performed a U-turn and announced it is re- entering merger talks with Stevenson College Edinburgh and Jewel and Esk College, which it abandoned earlier this year.

College principal Miles Dibsdall told TESS in May that going it alone had been the right decision for Telford. But in recent weeks, Education Secretary Michael Russell has repeatedly urged the college to re-enter merger talks.

While the three colleges already worked collaboratively, the “best way now to develop skills and learning opportunities, particularly for the city’s school leavers and young people, is to work together to create a single merged college for Edinburgh,” said Jim Donaldson, chair of Telford’s management board, this week.