Bedford Academy
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,480 pupils
86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.8
Free schools
Bedford Free School
- Pupils on roll
- 536of 500 places
- Free school meals
- 29.5%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 98
- Ofsted
- Standards maintained, 24 April 2025Read the Ofsted report
What the data says
Bedford Free School has no sixth form. Of the 95 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 47% to a further education college and 1% started an apprenticeship.
Drama is unusually popular at GCSE: 32% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were in line with the national picture: Attainment 8 of 46.5 against 46.1 across England and 44.4 in Bedford, with 37% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Nearly everyone studies a modern language to GCSE (Spanish, French entries add up to 90% of the cohort), which is rare outside selective and independent schools.
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Bedford and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Bedford Free School | Bedford | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 95 | 2,196 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 91% | 93% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 86% | 88% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 39% | 39% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | — | 13% |
| — further education college | 47% | 47% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 1% | 2% | 3% |
| Employment | 3% | 2% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 5% | 4% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 4% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Bedford Free School | Bedford | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 46.5 | 44.4 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 37% | 44% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 65% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 89% | 38% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.51 | 3.89 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 29% | 24% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 39.1 | 34.6 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 49.5 | 47.3 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 72% | 26% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 98 | 100% | 89% | 22% | 20% | 76% |
| Mathematics | 98 | 100% | 88% | 16% | 22% | 64% |
| English Literature | 98 | 100% | 86% | 28% | 21% | 81% |
| Combined Science | 82 | 84% | 65% | 6% | 9% | 61% |
| Spanish | 73 | 74% | 19% | 10% | 27% | 63% |
| Geography | 57 | 58% | 41% | 14% | 25% | 53% |
| History | 41 | 42% | 41% | 32% | 26% | 76% |
| Religious Studies | 36 | 37% | 31% | 28% | 32% | 78% |
| Fine Art | 33 | 34% | 9% | 15% | 28% | 58% |
| Drama | 31 | 32% | 7% | 6% | 27% | 65% |
| Computer Science | 28 | 29% | 13% | 21% | 30% | 46% |
| Physical Education | 25 | 26% | 11% | 0% | 24% | 52% |
| Design and Technology | 21 | 21% | 11% | 5% | 23% | 62% |
| Chemistry | 16 | 16% | 23% | 38% | 47% | 94% |
| Biology | 16 | 16% | 23% | 38% | 45% | 94% |
| Physics | 16 | 16% | 23% | 38% | 46% | 100% |
| French | 15 | 15% | 18% | 47% | 29% | 80% |
| Music | 6 | 6% | 5% | 17% | 33% | 33% |
| Arabic | 2 | 2% | 1% | — | 47% | — |
| Italian | 2 | 2% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Polish | 2 | 2% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Russian | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 87% | — |
Other secondary schools in Bedford
Biddenham International School and Sports College
Foundation school · sixth form · 1,422 pupils
91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.1
Daubeney Academy
Academy converter · 576 pupils
84% stayed in education · Attainment 8 38.5
Goldington Academy
Academy converter · 958 pupils
95% stayed in education · Attainment 8 54.3
Kempston Academy
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 773 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.3
Lincroft Academy
Academy converter · 923 pupils
95% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.0
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.