Meppershall Church of England Academy

Meppershall Church of England Academy is performing well overall, achieving a rating of 'Good' across all inspection areas including the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. The school has created a positive environment where pupils are happy, engage well in their learning, and demonstrate strong interpersonal relationships. Although there has been a considerable transition in the school's structure and its curriculum, the leadership has worked hard to foster a love for learning among students. A significant number of pupils achieve well thanks to effective teaching practices, especially in phonics.

Strengths

• Pupils display strong relationships and take pride in school values.
• Broad and ambitious curriculum developed effectively across most subjects.
• Effective teaching strategies leading to strong progress in many areas.
• Robust support for pupils with SEND, ensuring access to the curriculum.
• Positive behaviour management fostering a supportive learning environment.
• Strong engagement and excitement observed in early years activities.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent curriculum planning in a few subjects affecting pupil learning.
• Governance lacks clear oversight leading to inconsistencies in provision.

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 Meppershall Church of England Academy attended 92.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.1% 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, 5.4% of pupils at Meppershall Church of England 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 Meppershall Church of England Academy had 33.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 42.5% 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, 6.7% of pupils at Meppershall Church of England Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.8% 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 Meppershall Church of England Academy received £6,613 and spent £4,658 for each of its 222 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £27,000 (£122 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Poppy Hill Church of England Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,092 and spending £7,251 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 Central Bedfordshire · Central Bedfordshire local authority: places and applications

Meppershall Church of England Academy is part of Poppy Hill Church of England Multi Academy Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Henlow Church of England Academy Henlow

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

The latest Ofsted rating for Meppershall Church of England Academy is Good, from an inspection in May 2024.

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

Meppershall Church of England Academy was last inspected in May 2024.

How many pupils does Meppershall Church of England Academy have?

Meppershall Church of England Academy has 238 pupils on roll.

What age range does Meppershall Church of England Academy cover?

Meppershall Church of England Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 30% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Meppershall Church of England Academy?

Meppershall Church of England Academy is at 107 High Street, Meppershall, Shefford, Bedfordshire, SG17 5LZ.