Cedars Upper School
Secondary · Leighton Buzzard · LU7 2AE
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 19 April 2023
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
1,135 pupils · 84% of 1,350 capacity (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Academy converter
- Age range
- 13–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Free school meals
- 15.5% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 10.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 8.2% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 2.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Sixth form
- Yes
- URN
- 137462
In figures
Ofsted last graded it Good on 19 April 2023, 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
0.80 first-choice applications per place236 places offered · 188 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: Year 9
Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Leighton Buzzard school admissions · Central Bedfordshire school admissions
GCSE results (2024/2025)
220 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 in line with 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wellsway School | 50.5 | |
| Harlington Upper School | 47.8 | |
| Bishop Heber High School | 53.8 | |
| The Castle School | 52.4 | |
| Swavesey Village College | 54.6 | |
| Broughton High School | 59.3 | |
| Our Lady's Catholic High School | 50 | |
| John Ferneley College | 43.8 | |
| Thomas Mills High School & Sixth Form | 48.4 | |
| Malton School | 46.6 | |
| Swanmore College | 49.4 | |
| Richard Hale School | 56.3 |
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 72% (Central Bedfordshire 75%, England 59%) · Any other White background 7% (Central Bedfordshire 6%, England 7%) · Not recorded 6% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Black African 4% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 5%) · Asian Indian 2% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 4%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Central Bedfordshire 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Asian Pakistani 1% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 5%) · Black Caribbean 1% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Asian Chinese 1% (Central Bedfordshire 0%, England 1%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 3%) · White Traveller of Irish heritage 1% (Central Bedfordshire 0%, England 0%) · 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)
18.20 suspensions per 100 pupils and 1 permanent exclusion · 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)
81% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 10% moved to another state school · 9% 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)
83.1% of teachers took sickness absence, 3.7 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 £46,912; 15.4% 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 78% (77%) · premises 7% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 3% (6%) · supplies and services 12% (11%) · educational supplies 3% (6%) · bought-in professional services 3% (1%) · catering 1% (3%)
Reserves (2024-25)
Revenue reserve £0; in-year balance -£303,000
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
- 19 April 2023: Good
- 5 October 2021: S8 No Formal Designation Visit
- 3 October 2017: Good
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 8/10less deprived than most of England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 9/10among the least deprived fifth of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 41.5% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 12.2% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 42.6% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 9.4% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 50.4% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 69% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 11.8% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 19.3% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 29.6% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 24.8% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 26.5% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 14.6% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01017591 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £320,000137 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £245,000–£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.
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
- 4an 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