Barnfield College is the largest
further education
Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...
college in
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
, England, with two campuses in
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...
.
Campus locations
*New Bedford Road Campus, New Bedford Road, Luton, LU2 7BF
*Technology Campus, Enterprise Way, Luton, LU3 4BU
Faculty areas
Faculty of Business Enterprise and Retail
* Business and Management
* Hospitality and Catering
* Accountancy
* Higher Education
Faculty of Creative Arts
* Art and Design
* Hairdressing
* Media and Communications
* Beauty and Holistic Therapy
* Performing Arts and Music
* Fashion and Textiles
* Higher Education
Faculty of Technology
* Construction Trades
* Plumbing
* Electrical
* Computing
* Engineering
* Networking
* Motor Vehicle
* Higher Education
Faculty of Care, Public Services, Sport and Leisure
* Child Care
* Public Services
* Health and Social Care/HE
* Sport and Fitness
* Travel and Tourism
* Dental
* Higher Education/Access
Faculty of Skills Development
* Additional and Learning Support
* Functional Skills
* Language Skills
History
Origin
In 1958, Luton Technical School moved to a new building off Barnfield Avenue, and the name of the school was changed to ''Barnfield Secondary Technical School''. With the introduction of
comprehensive school
A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...
s in Luton in 1967, it became ''Barnfield High School''. The number of pupils declined; in 1968 parts of the building were taken over for teaching hairdressing and dressmaking; and in 1970 the College of Further Education took over the whole building.
In 2003, Barnfield College became the first general further education college to be awarded
Beacon status.
Barnfield Federation
Peter Birkett
Sir Peter Birkett (born 6 November 1959) is a British educator and entrepreneur, currently known for being the Chief Executive of an educational consultancy company p5e and the Founder and Director of Highgate Hill House School in Devon. Peter ...
was appointed as principal in 2005, and the College became the first further education college in Britain to sponsor an
academy school
An academy school in England is a state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individual Academy Funding Agreements. Most ...
(
Barnfield South Academy and
Barnfield West Academy). By 2007, the Barnfield Federation included a nursery, primary and secondary schools and a college. In 2010, it opened one of the first
studio school
A studio school is a type of specialist secondary school in England that is designed to give students practical skills in workplace environments as well as traditional academic and vocational courses of study. Like traditional schools, studio sc ...
s in Britain (Barnfield Skills Academy). The Federation was also the first to launch a 14-18 Law & Accountancy Academy for students who would like to follow a career as an Accountant or Lawyer.
As of October 2013, the federation was under investigation by the
Department for Education
The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England.
A Department ...
and the
Skills Funding Agency
The Skills Funding Agency was one of two successor organisations that emerged from the closure in 2010 of the Learning and Skills Council (England's largest non-departmental public body or quango). The agency was in turn replaced by the Educa ...
. A key element of the investigation focussed on a £915,000 funding claim for students that did not study at the college. The outcomes of the investigations were jointly announced on 28 February 2014 by multiple news sources, which summarised reports from the
Further Education Commissioner
Further or Furthur may refer to:
* ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus
*Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band
*Furthur (band), a band formed in 2009 by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh
* ''Further'' (The Chemical Brothers alb ...
, the Skills Funding Agency and the
Education Funding Agency
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is an executive agency of the government of the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Department for Education.
The ESFA was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of the Education Funding Agency an ...
.
In July 2014 it was announced that the schools would be split from Barnfield College to form their own multi-academy trust. The college would then focus on further and higher education provision. In 2015 the schools split from Barnfield and formed the Shared Learning Trust.
Merger with West Herts College
At the end of January 2019, the college legally became part of
West Herts College
West Herts College is a college for further education in Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The college has campuses in Watford, Hemel Hempstead and Kings Langley. As of 2017 the college has 5,900 students on study programmes or apprenticesh ...
, although it has continued to operate under the name of ''Barnfield College''.
West Herts College Report and Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 July 2020
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Notable alumni
* Rankin, portrait photographer & director
* , graphic artist and costume designer
References
{{Coord, 51.905913, -0.421939, display=title
Further education colleges in Bedfordshire
Further education in Luton
Educational institutions established in 1968
Learning and Skills Beacons
1968 establishments in England
Buildings and structures in Luton