Little Bowden School
Scotland Road, Little Bowden, Market Harborough, LE16 8AY
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 5 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- HeadTeacher
- Mr Brendan Brannigan
- Constituency
- Harborough, Oadby and Wigston
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 368
- URN
- 119936
- Local authority
- Leicestershire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01858462528
About this school
Little Bowden School is a community primary school in Market Harborough. It teaches children aged 5 to 11 and has 368 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 | 58 | 57 | 59 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 69% | 56% | 68% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 4% | 3% |
| Expected standard in reading | 81% | 77% | 76% |
| Expected standard in maths | 88% | 72% | 76% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 86% | 77% | 80% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 104.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 104.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.90 | - | - |
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 Little Bowden 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 | Leicestershire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 69% | 60.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 56% | 60.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 68% | 61.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 388 |
| 2023/24 | 372 |
| 2024/25 | 360 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Little Bowden School compares
Little Bowden School ranked 82nd of 211 primary schools in Leicestershire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 61% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 74% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 68% | 4.5% | 11.7% | 368 | — |
| St Joseph's Catholic Voluntary Academy | 70% | 3.9% | 13.8% | 190 | 0.6 miles |
| Farndon Fields Primary School | 47% | 4.2% | 14.1% | 410 | 0.8 miles |
| Meadowdale Primary School | 57% | 4.1% | 8.4% | 389 | 0.8 miles |
| Market Harborough Church of England Academy | 75% | 3.3% | 14.1% | 392 | 0.8 miles |
| Ridgeway Primary Academy | 59% | 5.3% | 12.3% | 234 | 1.0 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)
- 11.67%
- English as an additional language
- 5.6%
- Overall absence
- 4.49%
- Persistent absence
- 8.18%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Joseph's Catholic Voluntary Academy0.6 miles
Primary · Market Harborough
-
Farndon Fields Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Market Harborough
-
Meadowdale Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Market Harborough
-
Market Harborough Church of England Academy0.8 miles
Primary · Market Harborough
-
Ridgeway Primary Academy1.0 miles
Primary · Market Harborough
Other schools in Market Harborough
Little Bowden School ranks 8th of the 15 ranked primary schools in Market Harborough.
- Bringhurst Primary School Primary
- Church Langton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Clipston Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Cottingham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Farndon Fields Primary School Primary
- Foxton Primary School Primary
- Great Bowden Academy, A Church of England Primary School Primary
- Hallaton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Lubenham All Saints Church of England Primary School Primary
- Market Harborough Church of England Academy Primary
- Meadowdale Primary School Primary
- Ridgeway Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Little Bowden School teach?
- Little Bowden School teaches children aged 5 to 11. It is a primary school in Market Harborough.
- Who is the headteacher of Little Bowden School?
- The headteacher of Little Bowden School is Mr Brendan Brannigan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Little Bowden School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Little Bowden 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 Little Bowden School?
- Little Bowden School has 368 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 11.
- Is Little Bowden School full?
- Little Bowden School has capacity for 420 pupils and 368 on roll (88%), 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 Little Bowden School a faith school?
- No. Little Bowden School has no designated religious character.
- Does Little Bowden School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Little Bowden School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Little Bowden School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 69% in 2022/23 and 68% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Little Bowden School rank locally?
- Little Bowden School ranked 82nd of 211 primary schools in Leicestershire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 61% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 74% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Little Bowden School's absence rate?
- Little Bowden School's overall absence rate is 4.5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Little Bowden School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Little Bowden 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 30 June 2026.