A feasibility study is to be undertaken into how links can be improved between two institutions serving students in Gwent.

Coleg Gwent and the University of Wales College, Newport, are to undertake the joint feasibility study to identify new ways of strengthening the ties that already exist in an attempt to provide improved services to learners.

The project, which has received the go-ahead from the funding bodies for higher and further education in Wales, will start in November and is expected to take a year to complete. Over the past two years the two institutions have been involved in major regeneration activities in South East Wales.

At the former Corus tinplate works in Ebbw Vale UWCN and Coleg Gwent in partnership with Blaenau Gwent council are developing a Learning Campus.

The institutions are also key partners with Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen local authorities in developing a Learning Network Project.

Professor James Lusty, principal and chief executive of UWCN, said: "The main beneficiaries in this collaboration will be students who will have improved progression and the South East Wales area which will have one of the most powerful economic engines in the UK."

David Mason, principal and chief executive of Coleg Gwent, said his institution is "very keen" to explore a range of options with UWCN which it believed gave distinct advantages for students and allowed the opportunity to provide more effective support for businesses.