A BRICKWORK course at Bolton College was cancelled at the last minute — due to a lack of interest.

Students who turned up on the first day of the class on Thursday were given the news and told to enrol on to other courses.

Saqib Hussain, 26, from Halliwell, said he has now been left in limbo after the course was axed.

“I couldn’t believe it when we were told the course was cancelled,” he said. “I am so upset and disappointed. Why did they not tell us earlier?

“I put my application in weeks ago — they should have told me then, not on the first day, when we were ready for the class.”

He added: “I was asked to enrol on another course, but I don’t want to do another course — other colleges are now full, what are we supposed to do for the year?

“It is really stressful. I was looking forward to doing the course, and now I have no idea what I am going to do. I have received my learning agreement with the college, and now they are not putting on the course.”

Mr Hussain said four students turned up and some had been “persuaded” to enrol on to other courses, but he said he wanted to do brickwork and not plastering or joinery.

The course was scheduled to be held on Thursdays and Fridays, and students said if they were not enrolled they could not gain experience in the field.

The college said it was working to help the students left disappointed by the scrapping of the course.

A spokesman said: “Due to insufficient demand we will not be able to run our adult brickwork class this year.

“However, we are working closely with those who have made inquiries and are offering alternative options in various construction trades as well as contacting other colleges to see if they are able to accommodate them on their brickwork courses.

“There were four prospective learners interested in enrolling on the brickwork course. The college’s average class size is between 16 and 18. However, we are continuing to work with these learners and are helping them to progress with their studies.”

The course tuition fees were £1,750 plus other fees of £80. However students on certain benefits may not have had to pay the fees. The course was for 34 weeks and 12 hours a week.

A spokesman for the Kier Group said that a lack of training and development of young people during the recession “led to shortages in both the professional and the skilled workforce”. 

He added: “In order to help address this we developed the Construction Team Leader Apprenticeship, which offers placements on Kier contracts throughout the UK.

“Working alongside our site teams and our supply chain, the programme delivers a meaningful qualification and equips these apprentices with both an understanding of the craft occupations, and the diverse range of skills required to deliver first-line supervisor needs.”