Bedford Drive Primary School
General Information
- Address: Bedford Drive, Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, CH42 6RT – View on map
- Phone: 01516451561
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Laura Horton
- Age range: 3-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 36 families put it first for 40 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 12 · 2025 9 · 2026 9
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 193
- % eligible for free school meals: 48.9%
- Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (similar to the Wirral average)
- English as an additional language: 7% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 18.2% a year (Wirral 14.3%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 10% moved to another school, 90% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)
Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Wirral: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 4 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in Wirral, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.
Attendance
- Overall absence: 6.5%
- Persistently absent pupils: 18.2%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 15.3%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.4%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Specific learning difficulty: 34 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 14 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 13 pupils
- Physical disability: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 9 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 4 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils
- Vision impairment: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2022 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 38% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 2% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 20 percentage points below the Wirral average (58%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 41% against an expected 50%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 41%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 70% · Writing 52% · Maths 50% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 64%
- Average test scores: reading 103, maths 100
- Based on: 56 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
SATs results over time
Year 6 SATs: 67th of 75 junior and primary schools in the area
- =63Holy Spirit Catholic and Church of England Primary School41%
- =63Mendell Primary School41%
- #67Bedford Drive Primary School38%
- #68Kingsway Primary School37%
- #69Our Lady and St Edward's Catholic Primary School36%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
5th of 54 primary schools in Wirral for Ofsted rating
- #3St Andrew's CofE Primary SchoolOutstanding
- #4Thornton Hough Primary SchoolOutstanding
- #5Bedford Drive Primary SchoolGood
- #6Bidston Avenue Primary SchoolGood
- #7Birkenhead Christ Church CofE Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £7,195 (2024-25)
41st of 74 primary schools in Wirral for spending per pupil
- #39Our Lady and St Edward's Catholic Primary School£7,368
- #40Heswall Primary School£7,228
- #41Bedford Drive Primary School£7,195
- #42Mount Primary School£7,149
- #43Greenleas Primary School£7,007
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)