Most parents want to make sure their child’s primary school is teaching them the essential skills they need to continue their learning journey, as a matter of course.
Bedfordshire is home to a whole array of high-performing state primary schools, from tiny village schools, to those with ties to different churches, to larger ones in the likes of Luton and Bedford. But for local parents and carers determined to find a school that both supports their child’s learning and meets their family’s needs, it can be tricky comparing one to the other.
To help, we’ve created a league table of the county’s primary schools. They are ranked by the percentage of their pupils who completed the national curriculum’s key stage 2 in the last school year, and met the expected standards for reading, writing and maths. We’ve selected only schools which surpassed both the national and local authority area’s averages, and had at least 70% of their pupils meet the national standard.
On top of that, we’ve only included schools rated at least ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted - meaning the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and student safeguarding have all been found to meet or exceed the government’s standards.
Here were the 19 state primary schools across Bedfordshire that met the mark:
1. Leagrave Primary School
Leagrave is a primary school in Luton, with about 458 children on its roll in the last academic year In the 2022/23 school year, 88% of its pupils met the expected standards in reading, writing and maths, compared to an average of 60% both locally and nationally. It is rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. | Google
2. Tennyson Road Primary School
Tennyson is another Luton primary school. In the 2022/23 academic year, 87% of its pupils met the expected standards in reading, writing and maths, compared to an average of 60% both locally and nationally. It too is rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. | Google
3. Thurleigh Primary School
This is a village primary school in Thurleigh, north of Bedford. In the 2022/23 academic year, 81% of its pupils met the expected standards in reading, writing and maths, compared to an average of 52% locally and 60% nationally. It is rated ‘good’ by Ofsted. | Google
4. Hillborough Junior School
Hillborough is a junior school for children aged 7 to 11 in Luton. In the 2022/23 academic year, 80% of its pupils met the expected standards in reading, writing and maths, compared to an average of 60% both locally and nationally. It is rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. | Google