Leighton Middle School
Church Square, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 1EX
- Phase
- Middle deemed secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 9 to 13
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Claire Vallance
- Constituency
- Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 600
- Pupils on roll
- 597
- URN
- 109689
- Local authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01525374907
About this school
Leighton Middle School is a community middle school in Leighton Buzzard. It teaches children aged 9 to 13 and has 597 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 1 May 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 149 | 149 | 147 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 76% | 77% | 78% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 19% | 13% | 5% |
| Expected standard in reading | 81% | 84% | 87% |
| Expected standard in maths | 86% | 83% | 89% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 82% | 80% | 80% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 106.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.40 | - | - |
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 Leighton Middle 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 | Central Bedfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 76% | 47.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 77% | 49.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 78% | 49.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 598 |
| 2023/24 | 595 |
| 2024/25 | 600 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Leighton Middle School compares
Leighton Middle School ranked 4th of 48 primary schools in Central Bedfordshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 61% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 78% | 4.9% | 13.2% | 597 | — |
| Linslade School | 70% | 4.5% | 10.9% | 721 | 0.7 miles |
| Brooklands Middle School | 48% | 5.9% | 17.6% | 598 | 0.8 miles |
| Gilbert Inglefield Academy | — | — | — | — | 1.1 miles |
| Parkfields Middle School | 50% | 6.4% | 10.5% | 460 | 6.0 miles |
| Woodland Middle School Academy | 39% | 5.6% | 16.4% | 645 | 9.3 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)
- 13.17%
- English as an additional language
- 11%
- Overall absence
- 4.9%
- Persistent absence
- 9.69%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Linslade School0.7 miles
Middle deemed secondary · Leighton Buzzard
-
Brooklands Middle School0.8 miles
Middle deemed secondary · Leighton Buzzard
-
Gilbert Inglefield Academy1.1 miles
Middle deemed secondary · Leighton Buzzard
-
Parkfields Middle School6.0 miles
Middle deemed secondary · Dunstable
-
Woodland Middle School Academy9.3 miles
Middle deemed secondary · Bedford
Other schools in Leighton Buzzard
Leighton Middle School ranks 2nd of the 5 ranked primary schools in Leighton Buzzard.
- Brooklands Middle School Middle deemed secondary
- Gilbert Inglefield Academy Middle deemed secondary
- Linslade School Middle deemed secondary
- Beaudesert Lower School Primary
- Brookmead School Primary
- Clipstone Brook Lower School Primary
- Dovery Academy Primary
- Greenleas School Primary
- Heathwood Lower School Primary
- Hockliffe Lower School Primary
- Leedon Lower School Primary
- Linslade Lower School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Leighton Middle School teach?
- Leighton Middle School teaches children aged 9 to 13. It is a middle school in Leighton Buzzard.
- Who is the headteacher of Leighton Middle School?
- The headteacher of Leighton Middle School is Mrs Claire Vallance, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Leighton Middle School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Leighton Middle 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 Leighton Middle School?
- Leighton Middle School has 597 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 9 to 13.
- Is Leighton Middle School full?
- Leighton Middle School has capacity for 600 pupils and 597 on roll (100%), so it is at or above 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 Leighton Middle School a faith school?
- No. Leighton Middle School has no designated religious character.
- How have Leighton Middle School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 76% in 2022/23 and 78% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Leighton Middle School rank locally?
- Leighton Middle School ranked 4th of 48 primary schools in Central Bedfordshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 61% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Leighton Middle School's absence rate?
- Leighton Middle School's overall absence rate is 4.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Leighton Middle School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Leighton Middle 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.