Cotton End Forest School
High Road, Bedford, MK45 3AG
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Karen Headland
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- North Bedfordshire
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 630
- Pupils on roll
- 435
- URN
- 109446
- Local authority
- Bedford
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01234740100
About this school
Cotton End Forest School is a community primary school in Bedford. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 435 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 27 | 22 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 41% | 59% | 77% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 48% | 68% | 93% |
| Expected standard in maths | 70% | 77% | 83% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 67% | 55% | 83% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 101.0 | 102.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 103.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.60 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Cotton End Forest School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Bedford average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 41% | 50.7% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 59% | 53.8% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 77% | 52.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 363 |
| 2023/24 | 389 |
| 2024/25 | 418 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Cotton End Forest School compares
Cotton End Forest School ranked 2nd of 51 primary schools in Bedford for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 82% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 66% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 77% | 4.7% | 17.7% | 435 | — |
| Shortstown Primary School | 60% | 4.2% | 27.1% | 479 | 1.2 miles |
| Wilstead Primary School | — | — | — | — | 1.6 miles |
| Lakeview School | — | — | — | 436 | 1.7 miles |
| Wixams Tree Primary Academy | 60% | 5.4% | 19.8% | 559 | 2.1 miles |
| Haynes Lower School | — | 4.6% | 5% | 136 | 2.2 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 17.74%
- English as an additional language
- 11.5%
- Overall absence
- 4.72%
- Persistent absence
- 9.35%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Shortstown Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Wilstead Primary School1.6 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Lakeview School1.7 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Wixams Tree Primary Academy2.1 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Haynes Lower School2.2 miles
Primary · Bedford
Other schools in Bedford
Cotton End Forest School ranks 2nd of the 53 ranked primary schools in Bedford.
- Balliol Primary School Primary
- Bedford Road Primary Academy Primary
- Brickhill Primary School Primary
- Broadmead Lower School Primary
- Bromham CofE Primary School Primary
- Camestone School Primary
- Carlton CofE Primary School Primary
- Castle Newnham School Primary
- Cauldwell School Primary
- Cranfield Church of England Academy Primary
- Edith Cavell Primary School Primary
- Elstow School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Cotton End Forest School teach?
- Cotton End Forest School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Bedford.
- Who is the headteacher of Cotton End Forest School?
- The headteacher of Cotton End Forest School is Mrs Karen Headland, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Cotton End Forest School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Cotton End Forest School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Cotton End Forest School?
- Cotton End Forest School has 435 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Cotton End Forest School full?
- Cotton End Forest School has capacity for 630 pupils and 435 on roll (69%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Cotton End Forest School a faith school?
- No. Cotton End Forest School has no designated religious character.
- Does Cotton End Forest School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Cotton End Forest School as having nursery classes.
- How have Cotton End Forest School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 41% in 2022/23 and 77% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Cotton End Forest School rank locally?
- Cotton End Forest School ranked 2nd of 51 primary schools in Bedford for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 82% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 66% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Cotton End Forest School's absence rate?
- Cotton End Forest School's overall absence rate is 4.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Cotton End Forest School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Cotton End Forest School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.