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State primary · 4 to 11 · Mixed · 413 pupils

Elstow School

Abbey Fields, Elstow, Bedford, MK42 9GP
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COULD YOUR CHILD GET IN? · RECEPTION 2027

In 2026 everyone who applied for Reception was offered a place. Enter your postcode to check your distance.

Bars: how far the last place offered reached each year. Check your postcode and each year turns green where a place reached your home. Source: Bedford Borough Council offer-day figures, 2024 to 2026.

Free, no account needed. Your postcode is used for this check and not kept.
Ofsted: Standards maintained · February 2025Top 10% (5/52)Fewer first choices than places (2026)
School website ↗Google Maps ↗Directions ↗Ofsted reports ↗DfE results ↗Government register ↗

Summary

The key facts, in one place
Primary (key stage 2) The league rank: the school's place among its council's schools of the same phase on the newest year's DfE results, the same rank as on the Schools map. In England: 3,703rd of 14,817 on the same figure. Band: Top 10%.
Top 10% (5/52)Rank among 52 Bedford primaries with results, 2025 results (reading, writing and maths)
See the Bedford league table →
Inspection
Standards maintained, February 2025
Getting in
Nobody refused in 2026
Results
74% expected standard; 5% higher standard
Size
413 pupils; 42 places a year; classes of 30
Run by
Advantage Schools
Type
Academy converter
Ages
4 to 11 · Mixed
Strengths, and things to check
  • Expected standard: 74%, against 57% in Bedford.
  • Higher standard: 5%, against 3% in Bedford.
  • Suspensions per 100 pupils: 1.9, against 1.4 in Bedford.
Schools for usRank every school near you by the measures that matter to your family, each reason shown.Rank schools →

At a glance

Against Bedford and England
This schoolBedfordEnglandHover or tap a bar for the figures
Academic
Expected standardThe share of Year 6 pupils who reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths together, from the key stage 2 tests and teacher assessment.
74%
Better than Bedford
Higher standardThe share who reached the higher standard in all three. A small year group can swing this a lot from one year to the next.
5%
Better than Bedford
Attendance and behaviour
Sessions missedHalf-day sessions missed, authorised or not, as a share of all sessions in the school year (DfE pupil absence). Lower is better.
4.9%
In line with Bedford
Persistently absentPupils who missed one session in ten or more. Lower is better.
11.5%
Better than Bedford
Suspensions per 100 pupilsSuspensions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. Lower is better; one or two incidents move a small school a lot.
1.9
Worse than Bedford
Pupils and classes
Average class sizeAverage pupils per class, from the school census. Shown for context, not as a score.
29.6
Context
Free school mealsPupils eligible for free school meals. Context for reading the results, not a measure of the school.
21%
Context
Pupils for each teacherPupils on roll for each full-time teacher, from the school workforce census. Shown for context.
22.0
Context
Demand for places
First choices per placeFamilies who put this school first, for each Reception place in 2026 (DfE applications and offers). Above 1 means more first choices than places.
0.9
Less sought after than Bedford
Bedford and England: DfE's own averages for results. For the rest, the middle state primary school of the same phase, from every school we hold, since DfE publishes no council figure we hold.Where these figures come from →

Overview

Getting in

  • 39 families put it first for 42 places; every one of them got in DfE, school applications and offers · Reception 2026
  • We hold no catchment map for this school, so we can't say which addresses are inside it.

Quality

  • Standards maintained Ofsted · inspected 26 February 2025
  • Reading, writing and maths: expected standard: 74% (England 62%) (county 57%) DfE school performance tables · 2024/2025
  • Reading, writing and maths: higher standard: 5% (England 8%) (county 3%) DfE school performance tables · 2024/2025

Daily life

  • Absence: 4.9% of sessions missed; 11% of pupils miss 1 in 10 or more. Schools with a similar intake: 5.3% and 13% DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level · 2024/25
  • Suspensions: 2 per 100 pupils (schools with a similar intake: 1); 0 permanent exclusions DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level · 2024/25
  • Classes average 29.6 pupils; 8.7% of classes have more than 30 DfE, school workforce and pupil census · 2025/26
  • 22.0 pupils for each teacher DfE, school workforce · November 2025
  • Nearest stops, in a straight line: bus 74 m DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes) · within 800 m
  • 8 police-reported road collisions within 500 m (0 fatal, 4 serious) DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years · 2021 to 2025
  • Air: nitrogen dioxide 9.3 µg/m³, PM2.5 7.4 (1 km square, background level) DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps · 2024

Who runs it

  • Advantage Schools, with 10 schools DfE, Get Information about Schools: group links · joined April 2017
  • Opened as an academy (converter) on 1 April 2017 DfE, open academies list
  • Replaced Elstow School (URN 109448) DfE, Get Information about Schools: links · 1 April 2017
  • We can't compare results before and after it converted: we hold results for only one side of the date, because DfE publishes a few years at a time.

Getting in

How far offers reached

How far away the last child offered a place under the distance rule lived, as the council measures it. It changes every year with who applies: a record, not a promise. Children with a higher priority can be offered places from further away.

Reception. Distance of the last child offered a place on offer day. What the last distance means →

Offer day, year by year

EntryYearPlacesApplicationsOfferedRefusedLast distance (miles)
Reception2026604242none—
Reception2025605858none—
Reception2024605353none—

Source: Council offer-day figures: Bedford Borough Council, 2024 to 2026. A dash is a figure the council does not publish, not nought. Distances are straight lines from the school.

Applications and offers, DfE

EntryYearPlacesFirst choicesAny choiceFirst choices offered
Reception202642398939
Reception202558498249
Reception202453488448
Reception2023606010154
Reception2022606110954
Reception202154468746
Reception2020605510055
Reception2019606713557
Reception2018605610956
Reception2017605712453

Source: DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence), 2017 to 2026. Families name up to three schools, so most applications are somebody's second or third choice.

Could you get in?Enter a home or postcode: we set it against every year's last offer and this school's rules.

Results

Results

MeasureThis schoolEnglandCouncilYear
Reading, writing and maths: expected standard74%62%57%2024/2025
Reading, writing and maths: higher standard5%8%3%2024/2025

Source: DfE school performance tables, 2024/2025.

League table place

TableLeague rank
Primary (key stage 2)Top 10% (5/52)

Source: DfE school performance tables: the newest year's results, place among the council's schools of the same phase.

Inspections

DateKindOutcome
26 February 2025Ungraded visitStandards maintained

Source: Ofsted, 2025.

Bedford league tableEvery school of this phase in the council on these results.See the table →

Daily life

Absence

YearSessions missedAuthorisedUnauthorisedPupils missing 1 in 10Pupils missing 1 in 2
2024/254.9%3.9%1.0%11%0.0%
2023/244.9%3.9%1.0%12%0.3%
2022/236.2%5.3%0.9%18%0.3%
Schools with a similar intake5.3%13%

Source: DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level, 2024-25. Similar intake: state schools of the same phase with free school meals in the same band (20-30%), the median of 3218 schools.

Suspensions and exclusions

YearSuspensions per 100 pupilsPupils suspendedSuspensionsPermanent exclusions
2024/251.91.4%80
2023/243.71.9%151
2022/233.41.4%140
Schools with a similar intake1.3

Source: DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level, 2024-25.

Class sizes and staff

MeasureFigureYear
Average class size29.62025/26
Classes over 30 pupils8.7%2025/26
Pupils for each teacher22.0November 2025

Source: DfE, school workforce; school census, 2025/26.

Stops nearby

KindNearest (metres, straight line)
bus74

Source: DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes), current. A stop across a railway or main road may be a long walk. Bus frequency is not held.

Road collisions within 500 m

YearCollisions
20251
20243
20232
20221
20211

Source: DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years, 2021 to 2025. 4 serious and 0 fatal in all; 1 involved a pedestrian, 1 a cyclist. Only collisions with an injury reported to police are counted.

Air quality

PollutantAnnual mean (µg/m³)Year
NO29.32024
PM1013.12024
PM257.42024

Source: DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps. A 1 km background figure: not the air at the school gate beside a busy road.

Pupils

Who goes there

MeasureShare of pupilsYear
Eligible for free school meals21%2025/26
First language other than English22%2025/26
SEN support16%2025/26
Education, health and care plan1.9%2025/26
Girls49%2025/26

Source: DfE, schools, pupils and their characteristics; special educational needs, 2025/26.

Who runs it

Who runs it

  • Advantage Schools, with 10 schools DfE, Get Information about Schools: group links · joined April 2017
  • Opened as an academy (converter) on 1 April 2017 DfE, open academies list
  • Replaced Elstow School (URN 109448) DfE, Get Information about Schools: links · 1 April 2017
  • We can't compare results before and after it converted: we hold results for only one side of the date, because DfE publishes a few years at a time.

Area

Homes in reach of this schoolLook up any home near here: its sales, an open-data valuation, and which schools it keeps in reach.Search homes →

Sources

  • Council offer-day figures: Bedford Borough Council
  • DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps
  • DfE school performance tables
  • DfE school performance tables: the newest year's results, place among the council's schools of the same phase
  • DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence)
  • DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level
  • DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level
  • DfE, school workforce; school census
  • DfE, schools, pupils and their characteristics; special educational needs
  • DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes)
  • DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years
  • Ofsted
  • School register: DfE Get Information about Schools (this school)
  • How we check these figures: How we know

More in schools in Bedford and the Bedford league table. School register: DfE Get Information about Schools, updated 17 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources are named beside each figure. How we know · All sources.