Editing Suffolk (section)

== Education ==
{{See also|List of schools in Suffolk}}

=== Primary, secondary and further education ===
Suffolk has a [[comprehensive education]] system with fourteen independent schools. Unusually for the UK, some of Suffolk had a [[Three-tier education|3-tier school system]] in place with primary schools (ages 4–9), [[Middle Schools in England|middle schools]] (ages 9–13) and upper schools (ages 13–16). However, a 2006 Suffolk County Council study concluded that Suffolk should move to the two-tier school system used in the majority of the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sudburytoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=850&ArticleID=1912030 |title=Suffolk Free Press |publisher=Sudburytoday.co.uk |access-date=6 June 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> For the purpose of conversion to two-tier, the three-tier system was divided into four geographical area groupings and corresponding phases. The first phase was the conversion of schools in Lowestoft and Haverhill in 2011, followed by schools in north and west Suffolk in 2012. The remainder of the changeovers to two-tier took place from 2013, for those schools that stayed within local government control, and did not become [[Academy (English school)|Academies]] and/or [[Free school (England)|free schools]]. The majority of schools thus now (2019) operate the more common primary to high school (11–16).

Many of the county's upper schools have a [[sixth form]] and most [[further education]] colleges in the county offer [[A-level]] courses. In terms of school population, Suffolk's individual schools are large with the Ipswich district with the largest school population and Forest Heath the smallest, with just two schools. In 2013, a letter said that "...nearly a fifth of the schools inspected were judged inadequate. This is unacceptable and now means that Suffolk has a higher proportion of pupils educated in inadequate schools than both the regional and national averages."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/local_authority_reports/Focused_school_insp_letters/Letter%20to%20Suffolk%20DCS%20following%20focused%20school%20inspections.pdf |title=Letter to local authority DCS following focused school inspections |access-date=29 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305093836/http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/local_authority_reports/Focused_school_insp_letters/Letter%20to%20Suffolk%20DCS%20following%20focused%20school%20inspections.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[The Royal Hospital School]] near Ipswich is the largest independent boarding school in Suffolk. Other boarding schools within Suffolk include Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School, [[Culford School]], [[Finborough School]], [[Framlingham College]], [[Ipswich High School, Suffolk|Ipswich High School]], [[Ipswich School]], [[Orwell Park School]], [[Saint Felix School]] and [[Woodbridge School]].

The Castle Partnership Academy Trust in Haverhill is the county's only All-through Academy Chain. Comprising [[Castle Manor Academy]] and Place Farm Primary Academy, the Academy Trust supports all-through education and provides opportunities for young people aged 3 to 18.

[[Sixth form college]]s in the county include [[Lowestoft Sixth Form College]] and [[One (sixth form college)|One]] in Ipswich. Suffolk is home to considerably more education colleges, which include: [[Lowestoft College]], [[Easton & Otley College]], [[Suffolk New College]] and [[Northgate High School, Ipswich|Northgate Sixth Form]] (Ipswich), Abbeygate Sixth Form, [[Thurston Community College]] ([[Beyton]] Campus) and [[West Suffolk College]] (Bury St Edmunds).

===Tertiary education===
The county has one university, the [[University of Suffolk]], which became an independent institution with degree awarding powers and university status in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-36307221 |title=University Campus Suffolk gains independence |date=17 May 2016 |work=BBC News |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042713/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-36307221 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The university operates at five sites, with its central hub in Ipswich. Others include Lowestoft, Bury St. Edmunds, and [[Great Yarmouth]] in Norfolk.<ref name="uea">[http://www.uea.ac.uk/partnerships/Suffolk University Campus Suffolk] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707110505/http://www.uea.ac.uk/partnerships/Suffolk |date=7 July 2015 }}, University of East Anglia. Retrieved 28 September 2012.</ref> The university is organised in four academic schools<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Academic Schools {{!}} University of Suffolk |url=https://www.uos.ac.uk/about/academic-schools/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=www.uos.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> and in {{HESA year}} had {{HESA student population|INSTID=10014001}} students. 88% of the student body are aged over 21 and 46% of university students are male.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/university-of-suffolk-s82 |title=University of Suffolk |website=www.theuniguide.co.uk |access-date=8 October 2024}}</ref>