Castle Newnham School

Bedford · MK40 3EP

General information All-through School · 4-16 years Who goes here 624 pupils, 9.6% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 7.4% on SEN support Behaviour 4.6% absence rate Staff 16.5% turnover Financials £6,268 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Castle Newnham School

General Information

Address: Goldington Road, Bedford, MK40 3EP – View on map
Phone: 01234303403
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Donna Neely-Hayes
Age range: 4-16 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 69 families put it first for 88 places – 8 for every 10 places. 99% of them were offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2025 10 · 2026 8
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

624 pupils out of 1380 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 60
% eligible for free school meals: 9.6%
Pupil mix: 7 in 10 (more mixed than the Bedford average)
English as an additional language: 16% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 16.5% a year (Bedford 16.3%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 64% moved to another school, 36% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (one year, 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. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Bedford: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 35 (2.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 21 (1.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 8 (0.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Bedford, 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: 4.6%
Persistently absent pupils: 9.7%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 7.4%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.9%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Other difficulty or disability: 13 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 13 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 12 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 7 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 6 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card March 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Expected standard

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

SecondaryGCSE results, Year 11

An Attainment 8 score for this school hasn't been added yet.

PrimaryYear 6 SATs results

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 67% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 8% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 9 percentage points above the Bedford average (58%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 64% against an expected 69%)
3-year average (expected standard): 64%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 77% · Writing 76% · Maths 77% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 70%
Average test scores: reading 106, maths 105
Based on: 90 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

This schoolBedford averageEngland↗ Improving Up 16 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 9 percentage points above the Bedford average (58%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 12th of 50 junior and primary schools in the area

#11St Lawrence Church of England Primary School68%
=12Carlton CofE Primary School67%
=12Castle Newnham School67%
=12Great Ouse Primary Academy67%
=12Kempston Rural Primary School67%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Harrold Primary Academy81%
#2Cotton End Forest School77%
=3Hazeldene School75%
=3Kymbrook Primary School75%
=5Bromham CofE Primary School74%
=5Cauldwell School74%
=5Elstow School74%
#8Great Denham Primary School72%
#9Turvey Primary School71%
#10Sharnbrook Primary70%
#11St Lawrence Church of England Primary School68%
=12Carlton CofE Primary School67%
=12Castle Newnham School67%
=12Great Ouse Primary Academy67%
=12Kempston Rural Primary School67%
=16Oakley Primary Academy63%
=16The Hills Academy63%
=16Wilden CofE VA Primary School63%
#19Goldington Green Academy62%
=20King's Oak Primary School61%
=20Queen's Park Academy61%
=22Eileen Wade Primary School60%
=22Shortstown Primary School60%
=22Wixams Tree Primary Academy60%
#25Scott Primary School & Nursery59%
#26Edith Cavell Primary School58%
=27Brickhill Primary School57%
=27Putnoe Primary School57%
#29Riseley CofE Primary School56%
#30Milton Ernest CofE Primary School55%
=31Shackleton Primary School54%
=31St James' CofE Academy54%
#33Springfield Primary School51%
=34Priory Primary School50%
=34Sheerhatch Primary School50%
=34Thurleigh Primary School50%
=37Livingstone Primary School49%
=37St John Rigby Catholic Primary School49%
=39Camestone School48%
=39Westfield Primary School48%
=41Bedford Road Primary Academy46%
=41Christopher Reeves CofE VA Primary School46%
#43St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary and Pre-School44%
#44Renhold VC Primary School43%
#45Balliol Primary School39%
#46Ursula Taylor Church of England School35%
#47Pinchmill Primary School29%
#48Roxton Church of England Academy27%
#49Ravensden CofE Primary Academy9%
#50Great Barford Church of England Primary Academy0%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,268 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

14th of 14 all-through schools in Bedford for spending per pupil

#12Wootton Academy£7,159
#13Sharnbrook Academy£6,891
#14Castle Newnham School£6,268

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Biddenham International School and Sports College£8,789
#2Daubeney Academy£8,348
#3Kempston Academy£8,310
#4Mark Rutherford School£8,234
#5Wixams Academy£7,847
#6Bedford Free School£7,816
#7St Thomas More Catholic School£7,715
#8Marston Vale Middle School£7,539
#9Lincroft Academy£7,378
#10Bedford Academy£7,375
#11Goldington Academy£7,369
#12Wootton Academy£7,159
#13Sharnbrook Academy£6,891
#14Castle Newnham School£6,268

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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