Watling Lower School
Primary · Dunstable · LU6 3BJ
Data updated
Ungraded inspection: no current grade
Ofsted's most recent visit was an ungraded inspection; its outcome was “Some aspects not as strong”. Since September 2024 these outcomes no longer confirm a named grade. This school does hold an older grade, but that outcome says the school has weakened since, so showing the old grade here would flatter it. It is in the inspection history below, with its date.
Inspected 18 December 2024
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
190 pupils · 127% of 150 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Academy converter
- Age range
- 2–9
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 7.5% of pupils (January 2026)
- Nursery
- Yes
- URN
- 151796
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 35 families named it first for 28 Reception places, 1.25 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 965.81 m (≈0.60 mi); distance decided places in 4 of the 4 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2022 to 2026. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 4.8% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026
1.25 first-choice applications per place28 places offered · 35 first-choice applications · oversubscribed
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 965.81 m (≈0.60 mi) for 2026 entry.
Admissions cutoff distance: Reception
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 965.81 m (≈0.60 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: Dunstable school admissions · Central Bedfordshire school admissions
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 67% (Central Bedfordshire 70%, England 60%) · Any other White background 6% (Central Bedfordshire 8%, England 7%) · Not recorded 4% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Asian 3% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Any other Asian background 3% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Asian Pakistani 3% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 5%) · Any other Mixed background 3% (Central Bedfordshire 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 3% (Central Bedfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Asian Indian 2% (Central Bedfordshire 2%, England 4%) · Asian Bangladeshi 2% (Central Bedfordshire 0%, England 2%) · Black African 2% (Central Bedfordshire 3%, England 5%) · Black Caribbean 2% (Central Bedfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Asian Chinese 1% (Central Bedfordshire 0%, England 1%) · 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)
Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms · how absence is measured
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, primary academies: 0.3% vacant, 0.32% temporary
Teacher pay (November 2025)
Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £49,591; 25% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%
Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 6/10around the middle for England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 7/10less deprived than most of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 30.6% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 15.7% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 33.8% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 15.8% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 48.6% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 57.7% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 9.2% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 33% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 20.4% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 37% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 20% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 19.9% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01017623 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £340,000516 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £218,000–£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.
Inside the Reception cutoff distance (0.97 km, 2026 entry): 515 sales, median £340,000. 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
- 4an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 19an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 1an 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