We seek to support diversity in higher education. As one facet of that, we envisage a variety of constitutional arrangements in the sector, and seek to ensure that our funding and other mechanisms do not stand in the way of innovative arrangements, nor hinder the reasonable aspirations of institutions. We have no preconception that mergers are the inevitable end-product of forms of strategic collaboration between institutions. There are many forms of collaboration other than merger. Equally, different forms of merger are possible.
Merged institutions can have very different structures and long term goals.
Some may aim for loose federation, with different campuses having distinct academic missions. In other cases there may be a vision of full integration. We will not normally wish to steer towards any particular outcome unless we believe that the proposed changes disadvantage students. In any cases where the proposed merger is between an HEI and a further education college, the parties concerned will need to have regard to the Government's stated reservations about the merit of formal mergers of further education colleges with institutions in the higher education sector. Special funding 10.