Bedford

Bedford is Bedfordshire County Town, England. The population of the built-up area of Bedford at the 2011 census was 106,940, while that within its traditional boundary, it was 87,590. At the same census, the population of Bedford Borough was 157,479.

 Education

Bedford previously ran a three-tiered education system, that was arranged in lower schools, middle schools and upper schools, as outlined in the 1967 by Plowden Report. In 2006, the system was put to the vote to switch to the two-tier model, but was rejected. Borough councillors voted 19 to 17 in favour two-tiered system on 17 November 2009, which would then be phased in. However, after the Labor Government's defeat in 2010, the new coalition government announced that it would no longer have the funding needed to switch to a two-tier system. As a result, the switch proceeded on a school-by-school basis because most of the costs were covered by national funding.