Lark Rise Academy
Cartmel Drive, Dunstable, LU6 3PT
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- CHILTERN LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Romina Lang
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Chiltern Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 360
- Pupils on roll
- 351
- URN
- 136345
- Local authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582607852
About this school
Lark Rise Academy is a primary academy in Dunstable. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 351 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Early years
- Outstanding
- 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 | 45 | 44 | 40 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 73% | 82% | 88% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 11% | 14% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 82% | 89% | 98% |
| Expected standard in maths | 80% | 93% | 95% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 84% | 93% | 93% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 109.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 108.0 | 110.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.20 | - | - |
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 Lark Rise Academy 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 | 73% | 47.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 82% | 49.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 88% | 49.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 365 |
| 2023/24 | 360 |
| 2024/25 | 359 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Lark Rise Academy compares
Lark Rise Academy ranked 1st of 48 primary schools in Central Bedfordshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 96% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 88% | 3.3% | 6.4% | 351 | — |
| Ardley Hill Academy | 60% | 5.5% | 12% | 422 | 0.4 miles |
| Watling Lower School | — | — | — | 190 | 0.5 miles |
| Dunstable Icknield Lower School | — | 6% | 16.2% | 295 | 0.6 miles |
| Ashton St Peter's VA C of E School | 45% | 5.2% | 14.4% | 205 | 0.7 miles |
| Lancot School | 64% | 4.7% | 13.9% | 423 | 0.9 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)
- 6.41%
- English as an additional language
- 15.3%
- Overall absence
- 3.28%
- Persistent absence
- 3.27%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ardley Hill Academy0.4 miles
Primary · Dunstable
-
Watling Lower School0.5 miles
Primary · Dunstable
-
Dunstable Icknield Lower School0.6 miles
Primary · Dunstable
-
Ashton St Peter's VA C of E School0.7 miles
Primary · Dunstable
-
Lancot School0.9 miles
Primary · Dunstable
Other schools in Dunstable
Lark Rise Academy ranks 1st of the 20 ranked primary schools in Dunstable.
- Ardley Hill Academy Primary
- Ashton St Peter's VA C of E School Primary
- Beecroft Academy Primary
- Dunstable Icknield Lower School Primary
- Eaton Bray Academy Primary
- Edlesborough Primary Academy Primary
- Hadrian Academy Primary
- Harlington Lower School Primary
- Houghton Regis Primary School Primary
- Kensworth Church of England Academy Primary
- Lancot School Primary
- St Christophers Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Lark Rise Academy teach?
- Lark Rise Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Dunstable.
- Who is the headteacher of Lark Rise Academy?
- The headteacher of Lark Rise Academy is Mrs Romina Lang, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Lark Rise Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Lark Rise Academy, 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 Lark Rise Academy?
- Lark Rise Academy has 351 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Lark Rise Academy full?
- Lark Rise Academy has capacity for 360 pupils and 351 on roll (98%), 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 Lark Rise Academy a faith school?
- No. Lark Rise Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Lark Rise Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Lark Rise Academy as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Lark Rise Academy?
- Lark Rise Academy is part of CHILTERN LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Lark Rise Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 73% in 2022/23 and 88% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Lark Rise Academy rank locally?
- Lark Rise Academy ranked 1st of 48 primary schools in Central Bedfordshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 96% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Lark Rise Academy's absence rate?
- Lark Rise Academy's overall absence rate is 3.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Lark Rise Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Lark Rise Academy'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 1 July 2026.