Students from Avonmore Tertiary Institute are considering their next moves after the college announced its voluntary liquidation on Thursday.

A Christchurch training college has gone into voluntary liquidation, leaving about 140 students and 25 staff in tears and unsure of their futures.

Avonmore Tertiary Institute told staff, students, and government agencies on Thursday that it "can no longer provide most of its courses" in hairdressing, retail, tourism and computer studies.

About 12 students aged 18 and under told Stuff they were "devastated". They had struggled at school and could not imagine continuing their studies without the support of their Avonmore "family".

Most had their course fees and a small travel stipend covered by the Ministry of Education's youth guarantee programme, and were due to graduate in December.

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"It's now thrown us all into the position of not knowing what to do. Some of us have jobs but now there's 100 students out there," Grace Paul, 16, said.

"You get into the routine of just sitting at home."

Enrolments at Avonmore had dropped significantly since June 2017, when it had about 780 students, including roughly 300 international students, and 81 staff at its Christchurch and Tauranga campuses.

At that time, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) said it was "not yet confident" in the college's educational performance, citing plagiarism by international students and inconsistent assessment practices.

Avonmore closed its student-run cafe in May 2016, and started site sharing with the Design & Arts College in December that year to cut down on rent costs. D&A's owning company, Intueri Education Group, went into liquidation in September 2017.

In a statement, the college's directors, Michael Hadley and Karl Yates, said stricter immigration rules and the introduction of fees-free university study, among other factors, had caused the decline in enrolments.

Having to "adjust our business model to the new economic and political environment" caused significant financial losses in 2017 and 2018, it said.

CARYS MONTEATH/STUFF Avonmore Tertiary Institute's director Michael Hadley says news the training college is being liquidated will be "very unsettling" for its students. He and co-director Karl Yates declined to be interviewed on Friday.

"Recent commentary from the Government about increasing apprenticeship training ... will potentially drive students away from existing tertiary providers."

The directors declined to talk to Stuff when it visited its Hereford St campus on Friday morning.

A letter the pair sent to students on Thursday evening acknowledged the liquidation would be "very unsettling".

"We appreciate that this will create a lot of uncertainty for you and we will endeavour to clarify the options available to you as soon as possible.

"We want to assure you that we are assessing all options available for students to complete their courses."

Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) chief executive Tim Fowler said Avonmore's June financial statements indicated a "high" risk to its financial viability.

TEC requested an action plan from Hadley and Yates but was yet to receive one, Fowler said.

Students said they were disappointed not to be given any notice of the college's financial woes.

On Friday morning they shared a tearful farewell with their tutors, who themselves learned of the liquidation at about 4pm on Thursday.

JOSEPH JOHNSON/STUFF Avonmore's student "family" said they were in tears over the announcement.

"All of us have been in tears ... It's very hard for us, especially this close to finishing our course. We've all grown so close," Tyler Sadler, 17, said.

The change was particularly hard for those without a high school qualification, Sadler said.

She used the $50-per-week travel allowance to make a 100-kilometre round trip from Oxford to the city each day.

Some students said they would not be eligible for a student allowance if they enrolled with another provider – not that any of them wanted to.

They spoke highly of tutors who treated them with "respect", helped them find jobs, and cared about their futures.

"Everybody wished us the best," 17 year old Jesse Stevens said.

In a statement, NZQA said it was trying to find options for students to continue their studies with "minimal disruption".

​Updates will be posted on NZQA's website as soon as they are available.

In the meantime, students can contact NZQA by emailing avonmorestudent@nzqa.govt.nz.