The Liberal Democrats’ Manifesto for Bedford Borough has identified ‘Six to Fix’ for Bedford Borough. These are the areas we have identified as being in the most urgent need of action to improve things for local residents. One of these areas is education, where standards are too low. We must raise GCSE results to above the national average. 

Currently, 46% of children in Bedford Borough schools are achieving five A* – C grades (including English and Maths) at GCSE level. This is lower than the national average of 48%, and a shocking 6% lower than average achieved by schools in Bedford Borough’s ‘Comparator Areas,’ which are selected by the government as areas which share a number of characteristics and across which comparisons can be made. These figures are not acceptable. We will raise GCSE results to above the national average as a first, urgent step to improving education performance for children in Bedford Borough.