2006 saw the failure of a campaign to have St Edmund named as the patron saint of England, but in 2007 he was named patron saint of Suffolk, with St Edmund's Day falling on 20 November. His flag will be flown in Suffolk on that day.

Education

Primary and Secondary

Suffolk has a comprehensive education system with fourteen independent schools. Unusually for the UK, most of Suffolk has a 3-tier school system in place with Primary Schools (ages 5–9), Middle Schools (ages 9–13) and Upper Schools (ages 13–16). However, a 2006 Suffolk County Council study has concluded that Suffolk should move to the 2-tier school system used in the majority of the UK. The exception to this is in the Ipswich district and parts of the districts of Suffolk Coastal, Mid Suffolk, and Babergh, where the more common 11-16 age schools are in place. All of the county's Upper schools have a sixth form as there are at present (2008) no specific sixth form colleges (though 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. The Royal Hospital School near Ipswich, is the largest independent boarding school in Suffolk.

Tertiary

University Campus Suffolk, a collaboration between the University of Essex, the University of East Anglia, partner colleges and local government, began accepting its first students in September 2007. The main Ipswich based waterfront campus building is due for completion in September 2008. Prior to this Suffolk was one of the few English counties not to contain a University campus.

Culture

Sport

Football

The county's sole professional football club is Ipswich Town. Formed in 1878, the club were Football League champions in 1961–62, FA Cup winners in 1977–78 and UEFA Cup winners in 1980–81. Ipswich Town currently play in the Football League Championship - the next highest ranked teams in Suffolk are Bury Town and AFC Sudbury of the Southern League Division One Midlands, and Lowestoft Town in Isthmian League Division One North.

Horse racing