Education
Unlike most of England, Bedford Borough operates a three-tier education system in most of the area, which is arranged into lower, middle and upper schools, as recommended in the Plowden Report of 1967. The arrangement was put to the vote in 2006 with a view to moving to the two-tier model, but was rejected. On 17 November 2009, borough councillors voted 19 to 17 in favour of a two tier system, which would then be phased in. However, following the defeat of the Labour Government in 2010, the new coalition government announced that the funding necessary for the switch to a two-tier system would no longer be available. As a result, the switch is now proceeding on school by school basis where council funds allow, as national funding was due to cover most of the cost. Mark Rutherford School in the town is the first school to have been converted from an upper school to a secondary school. The new Bedford Free School (opening in September 2012) will also have a secondary school intake. Remaining upper schools in the town include St Thomas More Catholic Upper School, Bedford Academy and Biddenham Upper School.
Bedford is home to four private schools run by the Harpur Trust charity, endowed by Bedfordian Sir William Harpur in the sixteenth century. These are:
- Bedford School for boys aged 7–18
- Bedford Modern School, a former boys' school which became co-educational in 2003 for pupils aged 7–18
- Bedford Girls' School for girls aged 7–18.
- Pilgrims Pre-Preparatory School
Smaller private institutions include Rushmoor School (boys aged 3–16, girls 3–11) St. Andrew's School (girls aged 3–16, boys 3–9), and Polam School (boys and girls aged 12 months to 9 years), none of which are part of the Harpur Trust.
Bedford hosts a campus of the University of Bedfordshire, which prior to a merger with the University of Luton in 2006 had been a campus of De Montfort University (itself now solely based in Leicester). For further education, the town is served by Bedford College. Additionally, Stella Mann College is a private college, which offers a range of further education courses relating to the performing arts.
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