Schools in Biggleswade set for two-tier change
Monday, 13 February 2023
We have approved plans for its lower and middle schools in the Biggleswade area to become either primary or secondary.
As part of their Schools for the Future programme’s move towards a two-tier educational system.
Councillors also gave the green light for the capital expenditure – including £14 million from Homes England’s Housing Infrastructure Fund – for schools that will require the construction of new buildings and facilities to support the transition from three-tier to two-tier.
The decision by our Executive Committee will see changes take place from September 2024 with lower schools Wrestlingworth becoming and split-site infant school along with Dunton becoming a junior school, while St Andrew’s (East), St Andrew’s (West) and Sutton are set to become primaries and Edward Peake Middle School will change into a secondary.
Executive Member for Families, Education and Children, Councillor Sue Clark, said:
The approval of these plans for schools in the Biggleswade area is a significant milestone in our Schools for the Future programme’s ambitious aims to raise education standards in Central Bedfordshire.
The change to the two-tier model is part of this and, having received a majority of support from parents and the local community in a statutory consultation about the plans, we are confident this change will ensure the Biggleswade area has the right schools, in the right places, delivering the best education.
The remaining schools in the Biggleswade area are academies, which means the decision lies with the Department for Education, but we will support their ongoing change process which would see Biggleswade Academy, Caldecote Academy, Lawnside Academy and Northill Academy also become primaries from September 2024, while Stratton Upper would change into a secondary.