The Mary Bassett Lower School
Primary · Leighton Buzzard · LU7 1AR
Data updated
Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system
This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.
Inspected 22 May 2024
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
378 pupils · 90% of 420 capacity (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Community school
- Age range
- 2–9
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 18.9% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 19.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 9.9% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 2.6% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Nursery
- Yes
- Website
- www.marybassett.co.uk
- URN
- 109508
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 50 families named it first for 59 Reception places, 0.85 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2025 entry went to 2113.35 m (≈1.31 mi); distance decided places in 3 of the 4 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2022 to 2026. Ofsted last graded it Good on 22 May 2024, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 5.9% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026
0.85 first-choice applications per place59 places offered · 50 first-choice applications · usually has places
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. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.
Admissions cutoff distance: Reception
Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2025 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 2113.35 m (≈1.31 mi)
measured in a straight line.
Premium shows the exact distance behind every year back to 2022.
See what a pass includes →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.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Would you have got in? Check your postcode Premium
Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Leighton Buzzard school admissions · Central Bedfordshire school admissions
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 66% (Central Bedfordshire 70%, England 60%) · Any other White background 11% (Central Bedfordshire 8%, England 7%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 3% (Central Bedfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Any other Mixed background 3% (Central Bedfordshire 3%, England 3%) · Any other Asian background 3% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Asian Indian 3% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 4%) · Black African 2% (Central Bedfordshire 3%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (Central Bedfordshire 0%, England 2%) · Any other Black background 1% (Central Bedfordshire 0%, England 1%) · Asian Chinese 1% (Central Bedfordshire 0%, England 1%) · Not recorded 1% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 1%) · 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)
4.44 suspensions per 100 pupils and 1 permanent exclusion · 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)
85% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 15% moved to another state school
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)
64.7% of teachers took sickness absence, 7.6 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 £50,543; 26.7% 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 83% (76%) · premises 4% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 7% (8%) · supplies and services 6% (9%) · educational supplies 4% (4%) · bought-in professional services 2% (3%) · catering 3% (5%)
Reserves (2025-26)
Revenue reserve £236,708; in-year balance +£72,682
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
- 22 May 2024: Good
- 13 March 2023: School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next
- 22 November 2017: Yes - improving (good)
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 5/10around the middle for England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 5/10around the middle for England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 32.8% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 20.5% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 38.5% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 19.8% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 44% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 53.9% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 24.3% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 21.5% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 16.5% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 43.3% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 10.7% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 25.4% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01017557 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £280,000652 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £200,000–£370,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are cheaper than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
Inside the Reception cutoff distance (2.11 km, 2025 entry): 1,834 sales, median £335,000. 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
- 2an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 10an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 40an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 4an 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