This website is managed by Central Bedfordshire Council. The Schools for the Future programme is a collaborative process between schools and the council. If you want to check the validity of this, visit Central Bedfordshire Council’s website.

Schools for the future

Schools for the Future is an ambitious, long-term programme to raise education standards in Central Bedfordshire by ensuring the area has the right schools, in the right places, delivering the best education.

Moving towards a two-tier educational system is part of achieving this. 

November 8, 2023, update: Six months ago Central Bedfordshire Council’s new administration paused work on the three to two-tier transition programme for some areas to ensure the plans are affordable and deliverable. We committed to updating you in the autumn, so here is an update of the work we have been doing and what this means.

We remain totally committed to:

  • supporting all three-tier schools across Central Bedfordshire to transition to the established Primary and Secondary school (two-tier) model;

  • investing in school maintenance;

  • providing more school places where needed; and

  • creating specialist provision for children with Special Educational Needs.

The Council is investing £140m in this work over the next few years.

We have taken a thorough look at the two-tier and new school place plans against the budget, while considering how many school age children we have in Central Bedfordshire in the coming years.  

You may be aware that birth rates are decreasing across the country, with the impact now being seen from the pandemic, while many residents are also tightening their belts and paying more for their bills.   We currently forecast our demand for school places for a rolling five-year period, and this will continue to be updated on an annual basis.  

Our plans need to reflect these changes. In light of the new forecast data and budget constraints, we have made some decisions and you can read the full announcement from Executive Member for Families, Education and Children, Cllr Hayley Whitaker. 

What’s happening to your school?

This website contains all the latest information on the proposals for change from the three-tier to the two-tier model of education which could affect the schools in your area.

Changes for the schools in each area will be phased, in line with housing growth in Central Bedfordshire, where population data will inform the demand for school places. At present, we aim to complete all the changes to schools by 2035.

Transition to two-tier is currently happening in these areas:

Though the programme has been paused, normal work has already begun and will continue in the following areas except Shefford and Stotfold (click on each area to find out more about progress in each area):

Transition to two-tier is not currently taking place in these areas:

Formal viability and feasibility work is yet to begin in the following areas (click on each link below to find out when it is anticipated that work will begin):

Keep up to date

Once proposals are developed, or we have more information on your school, we’ll update the web pages for each of the areas above.

There are also several other ways in which you can find out when new information is available.

Contact us

If you need to contact a member of the Schools for the Future team, you can email schoolsforthefuture@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk. For quicker reference, this website has information that may also help with your query. Click on the below links to find: