Biggleswade Academy

Biggleswade Academy is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across most domains, including the quality of education, behaviour, attitudes, personal development, and leadership. The school fosters a positive and respectful culture, where pupils exhibit strong virtues and enjoy a broad curriculum that prepares them for their future. Notably, there is a strong emphasis on reading and extracurricular activities, contributing to a well-rounded educational experience for the students. However, the early years provision has been identified as an area requiring improvement, particularly regarding curriculum planning and staff training, which affects the preparedness of younger children for later learning stages.

Strengths

• Pupils are extremely polite and friendly.
• Strong focus on virtues of ambition, determination, respect, and integrity.
• Broad, balanced, and ambitious curriculum.
• Effective systems for supporting pupils with SEND.
• Teachers are confident and use various assessment techniques effectively.
• A wide range of extracurricular activities are available.
• Reading is prioritized with well-structured phonics lessons.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistencies in early years curriculum planning.
• Some staff lack training in early years provision, affecting educational quality.

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 Biggleswade Academy attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

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, 1.1% of pupils at Biggleswade Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were 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 Biggleswade Academy had 21.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

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, 13.3% of pupils at Biggleswade Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Biggleswade Academy received £7,050 and spent £7,263 for each of its 776 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,586,000 (£3,332 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

What is Biggleswade Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Biggleswade Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2024.

When was Biggleswade Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Biggleswade Academy was last inspected in June 2024.

How many pupils does Biggleswade Academy have?

Biggleswade Academy has 839 pupils on roll.

What age range does Biggleswade Academy cover?

Biggleswade Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Biggleswade Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Biggleswade Academy?

Biggleswade Academy is at Mead End, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8JU.