Bedford Free School
Secondary schoolBedford Free School is a secondary school in Bedford, for pupils aged 11 to 16. It had 536 pupils at the school census in January 2026.
Ofsted
Latest inspections as at 30 September 2026Standards maintained, April 2025
Before that: Outstanding (overall), January 2020
- Inspection
- Graded inspection, 15 January 2020
- Overall effectiveness
- Outstanding
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Latest ungraded inspection
- Standards maintained, 24 April 2025
Outcomes as Ofsted published them. Report cards (from November 2025) give no overall grade, and grades under different frameworks can’t be compared.
Results
Department for EducationIn 2025/26, the average Attainment 8 score at Bedford Free School was 51.0, against 44.1 in Bedford and 46.2 in England.
58.3% of its pupils got grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs (46.3% in England).
End of secondary school (KS4, GCSEs)
2025/26, provisional| Measure | This school | Bedford | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Attainment 8 score | 51.0 | 44.1 | 46.2 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 58.3% | 41.7% | 46.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 68% | 62% | 64.8% |
| Pupils at the end of KS4 | 103 | – | – |
- The 2025/26 figures are provisional. The Department for Education publishes revised ones later in the school year.
- Progress 8 cannot be worked out for 2025/26, because the KS2 tests that give the starting point were cancelled in 2020 and 2021.
- Results reflect the pupils a school admits as well as its teaching, and a year's results can move a lot in a small school.
Schools nearby
In a straight line- Bedford CollegeSixth form and further education. Not in Ofsted's state-funded schools file120 m
- Bedford Girls' SchoolIndependent. Not in Ofsted's state-funded schools file380 m
- Priory Primary SchoolPrimary. Graded inspection, November 2024: no overall grade. 50% met the expected standard at KS2 (2024/25)820 m
- Peter Pan Nursery SchoolNursery. School remains Outstanding, April 2023840 m
- Cauldwell SchoolPrimary. Report card, November 2025: safeguarding met. 74% met the expected standard at KS2 (2024/25)870 m
- Cherry Trees Nursery SchoolNursery. Standards maintained, November 2024930 m
Admissions and catchments are set by councils and schools, which Open Index doesn’t map. Every school in Bedford
Where these figures come from
- Schools: the school lists of the Department for Education, the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government, with Ofsted’s latest inspections for England.
- Results: the Department for Education’s school performance tables (Open Government Licence).