The University of Luton’s contribution to the town’s economic renaissance cannot be ignored. With its emphasis on professional and vocational courses, extensive business links and strong teaching standards, it has twice finished top of the annual national graduate employment tables. This is hardly surprising when you learn that some 97% of the university’s 12,000 students find work suited to their degrees within six months of graduation.

It’s a university with universal appeal. Some 140 countries are represented among the student population, giving the university a diverse, multicultural flavour to rival the wider town’s – which is why focus groups have found students describing the environment as ‘lively’, ‘friendly’, ‘busy’, ‘sociable’, ‘modern’ and benefiting from ‘a good ethnic mix’.

Moreover, the university’s success is mirrored at all academic levels. To start with, the Children’s Information Service takes a supportive, progressive approach to pre-school teaching and childcare. From there, the 70 or so nursery, infant and junior schools, and 12 high schools ensure that the town’s future is well looked after. Between school and university, the country’s oldest 6th form college and Barnfield FE College share a reputation for excellent teaching standards. And finally, to prove that age is no barrier to learning, the University of the Third Age has a number of groups active here.