Ivel Valley School & College
Hitchmead Road, Biggleswade, SG18 0NL
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Principal
- Mr Joe Creswick
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- North Bedfordshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 264
- Pupils on roll
- 261
- URN
- 109739
- Local authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01767601010
About this school
Ivel Valley School & College is a community special school in Biggleswade. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 261 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 20 September 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good and saw signs of improvement; a full inspection will follow. 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 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 5% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 109.0 | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
| Reading progress | -5.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -5.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -5.50 | - | - |
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.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 13 | 20 | 25 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | - | - |
| Progress 8 score | - | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | - | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | - | - |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Ivel Valley School & College 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 | 0% | 47.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 49.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 49.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 243 |
| 2023/24 | 245 |
| 2024/25 | 259 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 39.81%
- English as an additional language
- 2.3%
- Overall absence
- 10.29%
- Persistent absence
- 25.82%
Location
Nearby schools
-
OneSchool Global UK - Biggleswade Campus1.1 miles
Independent schools · Biggleswade
-
Brandles School7.6 miles
Academies · Baldock
-
St Francis College8.1 miles
Independent schools · Letchworth Garden City
-
Woolgrove School, Special Needs Academy8.2 miles
Academies · Letchworth Garden City
-
North Herts Education Support Centre8.4 miles
Local authority maintained schools · Letchworth Garden City
Other schools in Biggleswade
- Biggleswade Academy Primary
- Caldecote Church of England Academy Primary
- Dunton CofE Junior School Primary
- Langford Village Academy Primary
- Lawnside Academy Primary
- Northill CofE Academy Primary
- Southill Lower School Primary
- St Andrew's CofE VC Primary School Primary
- Edward Peake CofE VC School Secondary
- Stratton School Secondary
- OneSchool Global UK - Biggleswade Campus Independent schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Ivel Valley School & College teach?
- Ivel Valley School & College teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is a special school in Biggleswade.
- Who is the principal of Ivel Valley School & College?
- The principal of Ivel Valley School & College is Mr Joe Creswick, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ivel Valley School & College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ivel Valley School & College, 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 Ivel Valley School & College?
- Ivel Valley School & College has 261 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is Ivel Valley School & College full?
- Ivel Valley School & College has capacity for 264 pupils and 261 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Ivel Valley School & College a faith school?
- No. Ivel Valley School & College has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Ivel Valley School & College have?
- The schools register lists Ivel Valley School & College's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Ivel Valley School & College's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Ivel Valley School & College's absence rate?
- Ivel Valley School & College's overall absence rate is 10.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ivel Valley School & College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ivel Valley School & College'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.