There were celebrations for Barnfield College – recently rated as outstanding by Ofsted – when its brand new £4.2 million "city campus" was officially opened by Lord McKenzie.

Unveiling a plaque at the new building in York Street, High Town, the former leader of Luton Borough Council, who is now Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Work and Pensions, told guests the college was highly regarded by the government.

And the future is looking good for further education colleges such as Barnfield, they heard. Lord McKenzie said: "The government's intention is for our FE estate to be a world-beater.

"Ten years ago, there was no provision for FE capital. Next year, the government will be spending half-a-billion pounds on FE capital."

The new two-storey building, which took 16 months to complete, houses student classrooms, large resource centre, staff facilities, cafeteria, support and administration offices.

College principal Pete Birkett is also based at York Street. The college has three other large campuses across Luton and one in Bedford.
To mark the opening, Lord McKenzie buried a time-capsule containing documents and photographs about Barnfield College in 2007.

Mr Birkett said: "The opening of our ultra-modern York Street campus is part of our continuing commitment to improving learning opportunities for students in Luton and surrounding areas.

"It features the latest technology and purpose-built teaching, study and support facilities, which will be of enormous benefit for all our students."

Guests, who included the mayor of Luton, Councillor Norris Bullock, and Professor Les Ebdon, vice-chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire, toured the new campus, looking at its highly-regarded teaching academy; a special exhibition about the new Barnfield South and Barnfield West Academies, which are sponsored by Barnfield College; and the college's new studio school, the first of its kind in Britain.

Stopping off to chat to students in the studio school, which teaches enterprise and entrepreneurial skills to all-ability 14- to 16-year-olds who have been turned off by a more conventional curriculum, Lord McKenzie and Councillor Bullock were quizzed about their own business experiences by youngsters keen to pick up any available tips from their visitors.

Barnfield College