A RAFT of jobs are set to be lost at North West Kent College, it has been announced.

A net reduction of as many as 48 posts could be made for the start of the 2013-2014 academic year though the figure is more likely to be between 35 and 40.

Most of the redundancies will be in the support and commercial training areas but some staff will be able to apply for new positions elsewhere at the college, which has campuses in Dartford and Gravesend.

The job losses at the 4,000 student further and higher education college, with sites in Oakfield Lane and Lower Higham Road, are being blamed on cuts in government funding.

Principal David Gleed said: "Unfortunately, like many organisations within the public sector, North West Kent College is faced with a reduction in government funding leading into the 2013-14 academic year.

"Therefore, regrettably, in order to address this issue, we’ve had to make some positions redundant primarily within the support and commercial training areas but at the same time creating a number of new positions.

"These changes will not impact on the delivery of the planned curriculum for 2013-14 as we are looking forward to expanding our range of courses on both sites to meet student demand."

"We’re working closely with staff whose posts are being cut and are encouraging those affected to apply for positions in other parts of the college.

"We are giving all our staff as much help, information and support as possible.

"We received great news this week from the Skills Funding Agency that North West Kent College is ranked as the 12th Best Performing College in England and we look forward to continuing to deliver this standard of service to our students going forward."

"There will be a net reduction of a maximum of 48 posts although this net figure could be as low as 35-40, as the curriculum plans are currently showing a need for additional lecturing staff for September."