Editing Milton Keynes (section)

==Education==
===Schools===
In early planning, education provision was carefully integrated into the development plans with the intention that school journeys would, as far as possible, be made by walking and cycling. Each residential grid square was provided with a primary school (ages 5 to 8) for c.240 children, and for each two squares there was a middle school (ages 8 to 12) for c.480 children. For each eight squares there was a large secondary education campus, to contain between two and four schools for a total of 3,000 – 4,500 children. A central resource area served all the schools on a campus. In addition, each campus included a leisure centre with indoor and outdoor sports facilities and a swimming pool, plus a theatre. These facilities were available to the public outside school hours, thus maximising use of the investment.<ref>{{cite conference|last=Cooksey |first=G. W. | title = The Scope Of Education And Its Opportunities For The 80s | conference = Goldsmiths College March Education Conference |date= 6 March 1976| pages= 8–10 |editor-first=A. V. |editor-last=Kelly |  location = Goldsmiths College, University of London}}</ref><!--Conference title seems a bit questionable: Is "The Scope Of Education" the title of the conference or of Cooksey's paper? --> Changes in central government policy from the 1980s onwards subsequently led to much of this system being abandoned. Some schools have since been merged and sites sold for development, many converted to academies, and the leisure centres outsourced to commercial providers.

As in most parts of the UK, the state secondary schools in Milton Keynes are [[comprehensive school|comprehensive]]s,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/an-extremely-select-spot-1338969.html |title=An extremely select spot |date=27 June 1996 |access-date=15 February 2019 |work=[[The Independent]] |archive-date=16 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216094119/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/an-extremely-select-spot-1338969.html |url-status=live }}</ref> although schools in the rest of Buckinghamshire still use the [[Tripartite System of education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland|tripartite system]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.itv.com/news/2015-10-15/explainer-the-rise-and-fall-of-grammar-schools-and-what-the-future-is-for-selective-schooling/ |title= Explainer: The history of grammar schools |date= 15 October 2015 |access-date= 17 February 2018 |publisher= [[ITV News]] |archive-date= 15 March 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170315004912/http://www.itv.com/news/2015-10-15/explainer-the-rise-and-fall-of-grammar-schools-and-what-the-future-is-for-selective-schooling/ |url-status= live }}</ref> Private schools are also available.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.isc.co.uk/schools/england/buckinghamshire/milton-keynes/|title=Independent schools in Milton Keynes – ISC|website=www.isc.co.uk|access-date=18 February 2019|archive-date=19 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219020022/https://www.isc.co.uk/schools/england/buckinghamshire/milton-keynes/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Universities and colleges===
<!-- linked from redirect [[Milton Keynes University]], please do not change this section title unless that article is changed too. -->
           <!-- Note that it is impossible to create an en.Wikipedia article called "MK:U" 
                because that notation is used to indicate the Macedonian edition of 
                Wikipedia (mk.wikipedia). If MK:U is typed into any edition of Wikipedia, 
                it will lead to the article there about the (Cyrillic) letter "U". -->
The [[Open University]]'s headquarters are in the [[Walton Hall, Milton Keynes|Walton Hall]] district; though because this is a [[distance learning]] institution, the only students resident on campus are approximately 200 full-time postgraduates. [[Cranfield University]], an all-postgraduate institution, is in nearby [[Cranfield]], Bedfordshire. [[Milton Keynes College]] provides [[further education]] up to [[foundation degree]] level. A campus of the [[University of Bedfordshire]] provides some tertiary education facilities locally. 

{{as of|2023}}, Milton Keynes is the UK's largest population centre without its own conventional university, a shortfall that the Council aims to rectify.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mkfutures2050.com/projects/mku |title=Project Two: MK:U A new University for Milton Keynes |publisher=MK2050 Futures Commission |date=October 2017 |access-date=6 February 2019 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209123752/http://www.mkfutures2050.com/projects/mku |url-status=usurped }}</ref> In January 2019, the council and its partner, Cranfield University, invited proposals to design a campus near the Central station for a new university, code-named [[Cranfield University#Milton Keynes|MK:U]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/competitions/competition-mku-milton-keynes/10039394.article |title=Competition: MK:U, Milton Keynes |first=Merlin |last=Fulcher |work=The [[Architects' Journal]] |date=31 January 2019 |access-date=6 February 2019 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124030/https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/competitions/competition-mku-milton-keynes/10039394.article |url-status=live }}</ref> However this project seems unlikely to proceed, following a government decision in January 2023 to deny funding.<ref>{{cite news |title=Milton Keynes' plan to create world-class university in tatters after government refuses multi million pound funding | work=[[Milton Keynes Citizen]] | date=19 January 2023 |access-date=20 January 2023 |url=https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/people/milton-keynes-plan-to-create-world-class-university-in-tatters-after-government-refuses-multi-million-pound-funding-3993522 |first=Sally |last=Murrer}}</ref> In June 2023, the Open University announced that it would "initiate work on the strategic and financial case to relocate [from] the OU's existing campus at Walton Hall to a new site adjacent to the central railway station" and possibly commence teaching full-time undergraduates.<ref>{{cite news |title=World famous Open University could move lock stock and barrel to new site in Central Milton Keynes |first=Sally |last=Murrer |date=26 June 2023 |work=Milton Keynes Citizen}}</ref> 

Through [[Milton Keynes University Hospital]], the city also has links with the [[University of Buckingham#School of Medicine|University of Buckingham]]'s medical school.

===City development archive and library===
[[Bradwell Abbey#Bradwell Abbey today|Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre]] at [[Bradwell Abbey]]  holds an extensive archive about the planning and development of Milton Keynes and has an associated research library.<ref name=dmk-cdc /> The centre also offers an education programme (with a focus on urban geography and local history) to schools, universities and professionals.<ref name=dmk-cdc>{{cite web |url=http://www.destinationmiltonkeynes.co.uk/Culture-in-MK/Cultural-Places/MK-City-Discovery-Centre |title=MK City Discovery Centre |publisher=Destination Milton Keynes |access-date=14 February 2019 |archive-date=16 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216035400/http://www.destinationmiltonkeynes.co.uk/Culture-in-MK/Cultural-Places/MK-City-Discovery-Centre |url-status=live }}</ref>