Students and staff at an education-to-employ- ment training centre in Kidlington have seen their career prospects thrown into disarray after their college went into administration.o About 300 students a year are helped into employment in the construction industry through the Oxford Co-Operative Development Agency's various courses. At present there are about 70 students and 40 schoolchildren on the books.

Administrator Anthony Harris, of accountants firm Critcleys, said: "The doomsday scenario of the centre closing down in the next few weeks, leaving students high and dry in the middle of their courses, and staff redundant, can't be ruled out."

But he added: "I'm very hopeful that a buyer will be found to avoid that disaster. Or the centre might possibly be saved through a Corporate Voluntary Arrangement with creditors receiving a proportion of the money owed them."

Contract manager at OCDA Vanessa Cover said: "There are some students here on 22-week education-to-employment (EtoE) courses; others are on two-year apprenticeship courses."

In addition, there are schoolchildren attending courses at the centre. They are taken by bus to the centre in Stationfield Industrial Estate from schools in Woodstock, Kidlington, Burford, and Bicester.

Ms Cover added: "Many of the EtoE students are people for whom school has failed and for whom a certificate from here will represent their first certificate of achievement.

"Many of the apprentices are with us because employers wanted them to learn while they worked. If they don't get that opportunity, because the centre closes, they could potentially lose their employment."

Three staff have already been made redundant. They received redundancy notices before the centre went into administration.

Mr Harris said that he was keeping on staff and trainees while he searched for a solution to the centre's plight.

He said: "The centre receives funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), but this is reviewed annually, which makes it hard to plan ahead."

He added that a buyer must be found before the LSC carries out a funding review next month. The centre could be sold either as a not-for-profit organisation or as a profit-making concern.

"I thought that perhaps one of the major construction companies might be interested, given the skills shortage in the trade," said Mr Harris.

"An individual has already shown an interest in buying it ."