SchoolFacts.uk

Rivertree Free School

Special / other · Bedford · MK42 8QP

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Not yet graded

Not yet graded

No graded inspection outcome is available for this school under either the current or the previous framework. This is common for recently opened or converted schools.

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At a glance

126 pupils · 63% of 200 capacity

School type
Free schools special
Age range
2–19
Gender
Mixed
Free school meals
34.9% of pupils
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
Yes
Website
https://rivertree.beds.sch.uk/
URN
150792

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

No figure is published for reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. Key stage 2 tests measure the age-11 curriculum; most pupils at special schools are assessed under other frameworks, so 97% of special schools publish 0% here.

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025. “Suppressed” means the DfE withholds figures for very small cohorts. National averages are not shown here. The England figures are dominated by mainstream schools, and pupils at a special school are working towards outcomes those measures were not designed to capture, so the comparison would mislead more than it tells you.

Special educational needs

Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.

Provision type: SEN unit.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
8.2%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
32.2%
England 18.1%

Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
10.5
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

School Workforce Census, DfE. The ratio counts full-time-equivalent qualified teachers; retention follows teachers in post one November to the next. Open Government Licence v3.0.

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
5/10around the middle for England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
6/10around the middle for England

English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG), decile of the small area the school stands in: 1 is the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. IDACI counts only children in low-income families, which is the measure closest to the intake a school is likely to draw on.

Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher30.3%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications14.3%18.1%
In managerial or professional work33.8%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways15%18.1%
Residents in very good health42.4%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier71.4%62.3%
Social housing9.7%17.1%
Privately rented18.9%20.5%
Detached houses21.5%22.9%
Flats21.2%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms17.5%21.1%
Households with no car or van16%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01017510 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,339 adults that the school stands in. These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Children travel in from further away, and for selective, faith and some other schools usually much further. Open Government Licence v3.0.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£290,000319 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£245,000–£355,500the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (69)£415,000
Semi-detached (104)£305,000
Terraced (83)£255,000
Flat (63)£210,000

Homes around this school are cheaper than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Every residential sale registered with HM Land Registry within 1 km of the school (straight line) since January 2024, market sales of houses and flats only. A sale is dated by completion and registered weeks later, so the most recent months are incomplete. 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
1an urban school averages 5.8
All reported collisions
15an urban school averages 30.6
Of those, serious or fatal
1an urban school averages 6.1

Every collision reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics (STATS19). "Child pedestrians" counts casualties aged under 16 on foot; "school-run times" means weekdays 07:30–09:00 and 15:00–16:30 outside August. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe: counts rise with traffic and with how built-up an area is, which is why the comparison is with other urban schools. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position. Open Government Licence v3.0.

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