Shefford Lower School
Primary · Shefford · SG17 5XA
Data updated
Earlier grade, confirmed by a later ungraded inspection
Ofsted's most recent (ungraded) visit confirmed the school remains Good. Ungraded inspections do not award a new grade.
Inspected 5 May 2023
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
514 pupils · 114% of 450 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Community school
- Age range
- 3–9
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 14% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 2.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 19.1% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 4.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Nursery
- Yes
- URN
- 109479
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 94 families named it first for 90 Reception places, 1.04 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 1979.12 m (≈1.23 mi); distance decided places in 2 of the 4 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2022 to 2026. An ungraded Ofsted inspection on 5 May 2023 confirmed its earlier grade, Good. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 4.3% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026
1.04 first-choice applications per place90 places offered · 94 first-choice applications · oversubscribed
First-choice applications per place, by entry year
Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured
Catchment area
Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Places by distance, last offered at 1979.12 m (≈1.23 mi) for 2026 entry.
Admissions cutoff distance: Reception
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 1979.12 m (≈1.23 mi)
measured in a straight line.
Would you have got in? Check your postcode
One free check a month, no account needed: your postcode against this school's cutoff history. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools you would be inside, and the address check across every school at once.
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Central Bedfordshire school admissions
Special educational needs
Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health
Provision type: Resourced provision.
- Resourced provision
- 9 of 8 places taken full, or over capacity
Unit places come from the school census and describe the position when it was taken, not today. Confirm with the local authority before relying on them.
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 86% (Central Bedfordshire 70%, England 60%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Central Bedfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Any other White background 2% (Central Bedfordshire 8%, England 7%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Central Bedfordshire 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Black African 1% (Central Bedfordshire 3%, England 5%) · Any other Asian background 1% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 1% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 4%) · other groups together 1%
Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures
Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)
Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)
2.51 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Central Bedfordshire: 3.50 suspensions and 0.05 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
90% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 5% moved to another state school · 5% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained primaries: 0.18% vacant, 0.36% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
80% of teachers took sickness absence, 5.7 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days
Teacher pay (November 2025)
Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £49,408; 12% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%
Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted
Spending per pupil (2025-26)
Where the money went (2025-26)
Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 81% (76%) · premises 5% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 8% (8%) · supplies and services 6% (9%) · educational supplies 3% (4%) · bought-in professional services 1% (3%) · catering 3% (5%)
Reserves (2025-26)
Revenue reserve £413,128; in-year balance +£35,280
Spending and reserves, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared
Inspection history since 2015
- 4 May 2023: School remains Good
- 22 November 2017: Good
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 9/10among the least deprived fifth of England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 10/10among the least deprived tenth of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 36.8% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 11% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 48.1% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 7% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 60.7% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 78.5% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 7.3% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 14% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 43.5% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 4.8% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 39% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 6.8% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01017439 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £347,500259 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £241,500–£425,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
Inside the Reception cutoff distance (1.98 km, 2026 entry): 457 sales, median £375,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.
Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Roads around the school
- Child pedestrian casualties
- 0an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 0an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 3an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 0an urban school averages 6.1
A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted