Barnfield College

Barnfield College is a Beacon College^[1] and the largest Further Education college in Bedfordshire, England, with two campuses in Luton.

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
• Marketing/HR
• Retail
• Administration/Secretarial
• Pathfinders

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
• Animal Care
• Travel and Tourism
• Dental
• Higher Education/Access

Faculty of Skills Development

• Additional and Learning Support
• Functional Skills
• Language Skills

Barnfield Federation

The College was the first further education college in Britain to sponsor two academy schools - Barnfield South Academy and Barnfield West Academy. It was also selected by the DfES to run one of the first studio schools 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.^[2] At its peak, the Barnfield Federation included a nursery, primary and secondary schools and a college - sponsored by Barnfield Education Partnership Trust. Dame Jackie Fisher joined that Federation as Interim Chief Executive Officer in February 2014.^[3]

Investigation

As of October 2013, the federation is under investigation by the Department_for_Education and Skills_Funding_Agency as reported in the media and is also under pre-warning notice.^[4][5] As of January 2014, the investigation has been escalated; it is reported that the FE Commissioner Dr David Collins is carrying out a two-week investigation.^[6]

As reported on BBC Three Counties Radio ^[7][8] as of 18/02/2014, via an alleged leaked report from the UK Government, a key element of the investigation has been focussed on a £915,000 funding claim for students that did not study at the college.^[9][10]

The outcome of the reports were jointly announced on the 28th of February 2014 ^[11] by multiple news sources, this summarises a report from the FE Commissioner,^[12] the Skills Funding Agency ^[13] and the EFA.^[14]

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.^[15] In 2015 the schools split from Barnfield and formed the Shared Learning Trust.

References

Coordinates: 51°54′21″N 0°25′19″W / 51.905913°N 0.421939°W / 51.905913; -0.421939