Kensworth Church of England Academy

Kensworth Church of England Academy is a small church school in the Diocese of St Albans Multi-academy Trust. Inspectors found safeguarding standards met and most areas working at expected standard, including attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development. Pupils feel safe, supported and happy, behave well, and benefit from strong relationships, a nurturing community ethos, and a wide range of personal-development opportunities. Leaders have improved attendance, persistent absence and outcomes for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, and staff value the trust's collaborative professional development.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe, supported and happy, and bullying is rare.
• Pupils generally behave well and show respect for each other's differences.
• Staff and pupils have strong, positive relationships in a calm, inclusive community.
• Leaders use secure systems to track attendance and respond quickly to absence.
• The curriculum is thoughtfully designed and generally delivered effectively.
• Phonics is taught skillfully, with staff identifying pupils who need extra support.
• Early years provision is well planned and prepares children for Year 1.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive well-tailored support.
• Leaders use additional funding carefully to support disadvantaged pupils.
• Staff benefit from high-quality professional development aligned to school priorities.
• Personal development is strong, including online safety, relationships and British values.
• Pupils develop confidence through clubs, residentials, forest school and leadership roles.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school and their children's education.
• Leaders prioritise staff wellbeing and involve staff in changes.
• Governance and trust collaboration are effective in supporting improvement.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement is the area needing attention, with outcomes over time tending below national averages.
• Not all pupils are consistently well prepared for the next stage of their learning.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes and disadvantage gaps remain below national comparisons.
• Foundational writing skills are not yet taught consistently well, and gaps are not always filled swiftly.
• In a few subjects, teachers do not fully check pupils' understanding of key knowledge before moving learning on.
• Some early years children find it harder to engage with peers or staff, slowing their social and communication development.
• Some recent curriculum actions, such as the consistent handwriting approach, have not yet had enough time to show full impact.
• Published absence and persistent absence figures remain above national averages, even though attendance is graded expected and improving.

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 Kensworth Church of England Academy attended 90.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 28.6% 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, 3.6% of pupils at Kensworth Church of England Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). 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 Kensworth Church of England Academy had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 52.4% 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, 12.2% of pupils at Kensworth Church of England Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 11.1% 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 Kensworth Church of England Academy received £9,899 and spent £9,283 for each of its 78 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £32,000 (£416 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of Diocese of St Albans Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,648 and spending £7,542 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 Dunstable · Central Bedfordshire local authority: places and applications

Kensworth Church of England Academy is part of Diocese of St Albans Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• Manshead Church of England Academy Luton
• Studham Village CofE Academy Studham
• Totternhoe Church of England Academy Dunstable
• Thomas Whitehead Church of England Academy Dunstable
• Wenlock CofE Academy Luton
• St Leonards CE Academy Leighton Buzzard
• Caldecote Church of England Academy Biggleswade
• Northill CofE Academy Biggleswade
• St James' CofE Academy Bedford
• Ursula Taylor Church of England School Bedford

What is Kensworth Church of England Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Kensworth Church of England Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Kensworth Church of England Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Kensworth Church of England Academy was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Kensworth Church of England Academy have?

Kensworth Church of England Academy has 90 pupils on roll.

What age range does Kensworth Church of England Academy cover?

Kensworth Church of England Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Kensworth Church of England Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Kensworth Church of England Academy?

Kensworth Church of England Academy is at Common Road, Kensworth, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU6 3RH.