Wilstead Primary School
Cotton End Road, Wilstead, Bedford, MK45 3BX
This school is closed (it closed in February 2026).
It was replaced by Wilstead Primary School. That page has the school's current information.
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Miss Caron Brown
- Constituency
- Mid Bedfordshire
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 189
- URN
- 109492
- Local authority
- Bedford
- Website
- School website
About this school
Wilstead Primary School was a foundation primary school in Bedford. It taught children aged 4 to 11 and had 189 pupils on roll.
Ofsted did not inspect it under the current framework.
Ofsted judgement
Wilstead Primary School has not been inspected by Ofsted yet.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 22 | 25 | 25 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 45% | 56% | 44% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 8% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 64% | 64% | 64% |
| Expected standard in maths | 59% | 84% | 64% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 73% | 72% | 76% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 103.0 | 102.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 104.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -4.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -3.30 | - | - |
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 Wilstead Primary 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 | 45% | 50.7% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 56% | 53.8% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 44% | 52.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 198 |
| 2023/24 | 193 |
| 2024/25 | 191 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Wilstead Primary School compares
Its KS2 result was higher than 15% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 79% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44% | 4.3% | 16.8% | 189 | — |
| Wilstead Primary School | — | — | — | — | 0.0 miles |
| Lakeview School | — | — | — | 436 | 0.9 miles |
| Wixams Tree Primary Academy | 60% | 5.4% | 19.8% | 559 | 1.0 miles |
| Willow Grove Primary School | — | 3.6% | 17% | 104 | 1.4 miles |
| Cotton End Forest School | 77% | 4.7% | 17.7% | 435 | 1.6 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)
- 16.75%
- English as an additional language
- 4.2%
- Overall absence
- 4.27%
- Persistent absence
- 8.43%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Wilstead Primary School0.0 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Lakeview School0.9 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Wixams Tree Primary Academy1.0 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Willow Grove Primary School1.4 miles
Primary · Wixams
-
Cotton End Forest School1.6 miles
Primary · Bedford
Other 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
- Cotton End Forest School Primary
- Cranfield Church of England Academy Primary
- Edith Cavell Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Wilstead Primary School teach?
- Wilstead Primary School taught children aged 4 to 11. It was a primary school in Bedford.
- Has Wilstead Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has not inspected Wilstead Primary School under its current framework, so no current judgement is shown. That is common for newer schools and is not a mark against a school.
- How many pupils are at Wilstead Primary School?
- Wilstead Primary School had 189 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- How have Wilstead Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 45% in 2022/23 and 44% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What are Wilstead Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Wilstead Primary 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.