Bedford College , Academic Departments

The Hygiene Diploma, intended as a preparation for women intending to take posts in the Department of Public Health, ran from 1895-1919. Taking over its role in 1916 was the newly formed Social Studies Department, which had been created as the result of an application by the Charity Organisations Society for courses of lectures on Social Economics and Social Ethics as part of the C.O.S. Certificate for Social Workers. In 1918, the Department changed its name to the Department of Sociology, Social Studies and Economics. By 1912 a special course in Public Health had been arranged for international nurses with scholarships from the League of Red Cross Societies, and continued for six years. At this point a Committee comprising College members, representatives of the League and the College of Nursing, was formed to carry on and develop this course. A second course for Nurse Administrators and Teachers in Schools of Nursing was set up in 1925-1926. In 1934 the courses were carried on under the auspices of the Florence Nightingale International Foundation.

The Department for the Professional Training of Teachers was inaugurated in 1892, and a Loan Fund created to help the students (this was extended to the whole College in 1896). It quickly established a reputation as a leading training Centre for Assistant Mistresses in secondary schools, and received grants from the Board of Education. It was closed in 1922 following the demolition of South Villa, where it had been housed since 1913.

Art students had attended Bedford College since its opening in 1849. An Art Studio was provided at Bedford Square, which was the first in England to allow women to paint and draw from the life. A gradual decline in the number of pupils, despite injections of funds from female artists such as Madame Bodichon (Barbara Leigh Smith), led to its closure in 1914.