Stratton School

Stratton School is a secondary academy in the Meridian Trust that has moved on from its previous requires-improvement grade. This graded inspection found it good in all five judged areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. Safeguarding is effective. The school has a specialist resourced provision for pupils with autism and a sixth form, and this context is reflected in the report's positive comments about inclusion. Pupils are confident, behave very well and feel safe and supported. Leaders have built a curriculum focused on strong foundations, and more subject specialists have improved consistency. Pastoral support, including the school's hubs, is strong, and support for pupils with SEND is excellent; the ACE provision for autistic pupils is highlighted as a particular strength. Reading support is considered, attendance strategies are helping, and the sixth form offers a broad curriculum with good careers guidance. The main areas for improvement are assessment and personal development. In some lessons, teachers do not check pupils' understanding systematically enough to adapt teaching, so some pupils do not progress as quickly as they could. The trust's PLEDGES programme is not yet fully embedded or clearly understood by pupils, which limits engagement with wider opportunities. Leadership is described as relentless in pursuing improvement, and governance and staff workload are well supported.

Strengths

• The curriculum is skilfully constructed to build strong foundations and help pupils remember key knowledge.
• Teaching quality is now consistent across the school, supported by more subject specialists.
• Pupils behave very well and have trusting relationships with teachers.
• Strong pastoral support, including the school's hubs, helps pupils feel safe and secure.
• Reading support is well considered, with individualised help for the weakest readers.
• Support for pupils with SEND is excellent, including the inclusive ACE provision for autistic pupils.
• Attendance strategies, such as the serenity suite, are helping pupils attend more regularly.
• Pupils show respect for diversity and understand that discrimination is not tolerated.
• Bullying is rare and dealt with effectively by teachers.
• Sixth-form provision offers a broad, varied curriculum with secure teaching and strong careers guidance.
• Leadership is relentless in improving outcomes, and governance provides strong support.
• Staff feel workload and wellbeing are considered, and leadership at all levels is valued.
• Arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not always check pupils' understanding systematically enough to adapt teaching during lessons.
• Some pupils are not supported to move on as quickly as they could in lessons.
• The school's PLEDGES programme is not fully embedded or clearly understood by all pupils.
• Some pupils do not take up all wider opportunities or understand why the programme matters to them.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Stratton School attended 89.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 29.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 10.5% of pupils at Stratton School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Stratton School had 17.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2023–24, 97.8% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 16.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 7.4% of pupils at Stratton School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 3 pupils.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Stratton School received £8,323 and spent £8,041 for each of its 986 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £307,000 (-£312 per pupil).

Across all 36 schools of Meridian Trust, income was £7,921 and spending £7,857 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Biggleswade · Central Bedfordshire local authority: places and applications

Stratton School is part of Meridian Trust, which runs 36 schools. The nearest others:

• Crosshall Infant School St Neots
• Crosshall Junior School St Neots
• Great Ouse Primary Academy Bedford
• Lincroft Academy Bedford
• Oakley Primary Academy Bedford
• Sharnbrook Academy Bedford
• Bar Hill Community Primary School Cambridge
• Trumpington Park Primary School Cambridge
• Harrold Primary Academy Bedford
• Swavesey Village College Cambridge

What is Stratton School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Stratton School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Stratton School last inspected by Ofsted?

Stratton School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Stratton School have?

Stratton School has 917 pupils on roll.

What age range does Stratton School cover?

Stratton School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Stratton School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 41.5, and 35% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Stratton School?

Stratton School is at Eagle Farm Road, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8JB.