University of Bedfordshire, UK

The University of Bedfordshire is a modern university based in Luton and Bedford. The university was founded as the Modern School in the 1890s and later in 1993 it acquired the university status and the university name is preferred and announced during 2005-06. The University continues to stand for high quality teaching, outstanding student support and excellent personal, career and professional development.

Reputation:
Bedfordshire was ranked 84th of 113 British universities in The Times Good University Guide league table, released in August 2007 and 95 out of 150 institutions in The Guardian's rankings. The Guardian's league tables are compiled mainly on the basis of teaching data (staff/student ratio, job prospects, inclusiveness), and the Times's also include data on research ratings and the percentage of students who complete a degree.

The Sunday Times awarded the University of Luton the title of Best New University in 2004 (prior to the purchase of the Bedford campus and rebranding).

The Guardian's national league tables for 2008 rates the University of Bedfordshire third in the country for Media-related courses with a score of 96.90 out of 100 and 13th for Sport. However the same rankings list the university as 106 out of 110 in Computer Science and IT.

The Nursing and Midwifery programmes have been ranked fourth in the country.
The QAA conducted a thorough institutional audit of the University as a whole in 2005 (prior to the merger of the University), this resulted in the audit team’s questioning of the academic standards of its awards and its lack of confidence in the universities quality standards. However, since the audit was taken in 2005 the QAA has been provided with information that indicates that appropriate action has been taken by the University in response to the findings of this report. As a result the audit was signed off in July 2007.

Since the QAA audit, The University of Bedfordshire has been short-listed for the Times Higher Education Supplement's University of the Year 2007.

University Campuses:
The University has three main campuses: Luton (in the town centre), Putteridge Bury (on the outskirts of Luton), and Bedford (on Polhill Avenue). There is also teaching for nursing and midwifery degrees at Butterfield Park and in on-site education centres at the Stoke Mandeville and Wycombe General hospitals.

2012 Olympics:
The Bedford Campus of the University has been selected as an official training site for the London 2012 Olympics. The campus is hoping to attract a major national team to train there for the event.