Falmouth University has denied that it is closing one of its longest running arts courses despite suspending recruitment for 2017 and opening a consultation on its future.

Last week the university announced to students and staff that it would be opening a consultation on the future of the Foundation Diploma in Art & Design due to its financial viability.

Closure would spell the end of one of the original courses offered by Falmouth College of Arts in the 1960s, with staff threatened with redeployment or redundancy. It will also affect potentially hundreds of students who have already applied for the course and will now find out their effort was for nothing.

But Robert Hillier, Falmouth University's head of communication, said: "[It's] important to clarify that the course has not been closed. Recruitment for 2017 has been suspended while consultations are held about its future."

One source close to the course, who did not wish to be named, told the Packet: "It's going to be a loss, it's going to be a huge loss.

"It's devastating. Not just personally for the staff but it's a really valued course with a long history in Falmouth.

"The main impetus behind the course is to help students decide which area of art and design they want to specialise in.

"It's an anomaly because it's a further education course in a higher education university, which is one of the reasons the university has decided to suspend it."

Another lecturer, who also wished to remain anonymous, questioned the university's "official line" that the course could reopen, as there had not been any conversation on how to address its lack of income.

They said: "As the current applicants are being notified of a suspension we will not have any students next year and it will take another academic year to recruit for September 2018. I cannot see the university holding us the staff for this long for a course they obviously do not believe in."

As it provides a bridge between college and university, the course draws in lower fees than full higher education options, with under 19 students paying only £100 compared to the £9,000 undergraduates undergraduates spend each year.

Supporters say the course was always popular, with more than 500 applications each year, including a large number from the Falmouth area and the rest of Cornwall.

The course does not contribute financially to the university, and as Falmouth University has a stated commitment not to cross-subsidise courses it began the consultation process.

Mr Hillier said: "The decision to suspend recruitment for foundation has been taken following a detailed analysis of the course and both its immediate and long-term requirement for investment from other parts of the university. This is increasingly relevant with the growing financial investment students make in their education."

If the university decides to close the diploma programme, it would be the second course to be ended by the former arts college in two years, as the last students of contemporary crafts graduate in 2017.

The source said a lot of Falmouth residents had come through the course, either as part of a degree or as a one-off diploma, and that warm sentiment felt by many graduates towards the university could be "wiped out."

They added: "It's going to be a big loss for the university and the town."

Asked whether the university was moving away from traditional arts courses, Mr Hillier said it was the number one arts university in the UK and "there have never been more students studying art and design here." 

However, it should be noted there have never been more students overall at the university.

Mr Hillier added that there is "greater investment in teaching and facilities than ever before."

Former foundation student Lily M has started a petition asking university vice chancellor Anne Carlisle to keep the course going, which gathered more than 2,500 votes in the first day.

She wrote: "Education in the arts is becoming increasingly downtrodden, it is the closure of essential courses like foundations that are worth an urgent fight."

She added: "I am passionate about the course there as a local person, and having done it last year I wouldn't have had it any other way. 

"I was devastated when I heard it had been suspended and I know a lot of my fellow students will be."

The open consultation with staff will end on November 24, and a decision on whether the course will be permanently closed or reopen for 2018 will be taken in May 2017.

The petition can be found at change.org/p/save-falmouth-foundation-protect-the-future-of-the-arts