The job losses will come out of a staff of nearly 1,000

Both full and part-time positions will be shed at Plymouth College of Further Education.

But college managers hope the final number of redundancies will be lower than that figure.

The college said the job losses were needed as they expected to be worse off by around �1.5m next year compared to a year ago.

College principal David Percival said: "The college is attracting more full-time learners, but the income per student has gone down.

We will be consulting with the staff and unions and will be exploring all realistic avenues to reduce the need for redundancies David Percival, College principal

"The funding for our part-time learners is also lower per student than last year.

"We have an impressive track record of sustained investment in our facilities and equipment, and we must continue with this, in the interests of our students.

"If we are to safeguard the college as a community asset, we have to reduce our cost base."

The college says it has been hit by funding changes introduced this year.

Consulting staff

It says it has also been affected by the additional pension and National Insurance costs now being borne by all publicly-funded schools and colleges.

It says the additional funding for education announced by the government is insufficient to offset these changes.

The job losses will come out of a total staff of nearly 1,000.

Mr Percival said: "We will be consulting with the staff and unions and will be exploring all realistic avenues to reduce the need for redundancies.

"Our priority must be to ensure that the service we offer students, employers and the community is maintained, and we will be seeking to safeguard the skills and experience which underpins this."