Redborne Upper School and Community College
Secondary · Bedford · MK45 2NU
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 2 July 2024
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
1,657 pupils · 117% of 1,418 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Academy converter
- Age range
- 13–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Free school meals
- 15.3% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 1.9% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 6.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 3.6% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Sixth form
- Yes
- URN
- 136559
In figures
Ofsted last graded it Good on 2 July 2024, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 8% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Year 9 entry, September 2025
1.07 first-choice applications per place379 places offered · 406 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. The council did not publish a cutoff distance for 2026 entry.
Admissions cutoff distance: Year 9
The council did not publish a cutoff distance for 2026 entry.
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2025 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 5631.93 m (≈3.50 mi)
measured in a straight line.
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Bedford school admissions · Central Bedfordshire school admissions
GCSE results (2024/2025)
393 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025
Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
A-level results (2024/2025)
Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means
Schools with a similar intake
Attainment 8, 2024/2025
On attainment 8, this school is behind the schools that teach a comparable intake.
They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Ely College | 49.7 | |
| Alsager School | 51.9 | |
| Vandyke Upper School | 48.2 | |
| Heathfield Community College | 50.6 | |
| Howard of Effingham School | 57.1 | |
| Wymondham High Academy | 52.6 | |
| Whitley Bay High School | 54.2 | |
| Highcliffe School | 47 | |
| Brookvale Groby Learning Campus | 49.5 | |
| Calthorpe Park School | 54 | |
| South Craven School | 47.5 | |
| Downend School | 51 |
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 84% (Central Bedfordshire 75%, England 59%) · Not recorded 3% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Any other White background 3% (Central Bedfordshire 6%, England 7%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Central Bedfordshire 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Asian Indian 1% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 4%) · Black African 1% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 5%) · Any other Asian background 1% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 3%) · other groups together 2%
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)
9.05 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Central Bedfordshire: 15.62 suspensions and 0.26 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium
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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)
89% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 3% moved to another state school · 7% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
70.6% of teachers took sickness absence, 6.2 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 £53,002; 8% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%
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 (2024-25)
Where the money went (2024-25)
Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 77% (77%) · premises 3% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 5% (6%) · supplies and services 15% (11%) · educational supplies 10% (6%) · bought-in professional services 0% (1%) · catering 3% (3%)
Reserves (2024-25)
Revenue reserve £93,000; in-year balance +£361,000
Spending and reserves, last three years Premium
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Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared
Where pupils go after GCSEs
Where students go after sixth form
Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.
Inspection history since 2015
- 4 May 2023: School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next
- 7 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 | 42.6% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 8.3% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 50.5% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 5.6% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 60% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 85.1% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 7.3% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 7.6% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 42.6% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 2.2% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 43.9% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 5.3% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01017373 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £418,000318 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £317,000–£525,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are dearer than three quarters of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
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
- 7an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 15an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 5an 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