Wootton Academy
Hall End Road, Wootton, Bedford, MK43 9HT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 13 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- WOOTTON ACADEMY TRUST
- Executive Principal
- Mrs Carrie McMorn
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Mid Bedfordshire
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,218
- Pupils on roll
- 822
- URN
- 137522
- Local authority
- Bedford
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01234767123
About this school
Wootton Academy is a secondary academy in Bedford. It teaches children aged 13 to 18 and has 822 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
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 293 | 295 | 285 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.8 | 43.1 | 44.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.17 -0.34 to +0.01 | -0.17 -0.34 to -0.01 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43% | 41.7% | 45.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 61.7% | 63.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 24% | 20.3% | 17.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
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 Wootton 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 | Bedford average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44.8 | 38 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.1 | 38.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.3 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 897 |
| 2023/24 | 890 |
| 2024/25 | 867 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Wootton Academy compares
Wootton Academy ranked 7th of 13 secondary schools in Bedford for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 54% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.3 | 9.3% | 19.7% | 822 | — |
| Kempston Academy | 40.3 | 8.7% | 30% | 773 | 1.7 miles |
| Daubeney Academy | 38.5 | 6.8% | 26.7% | 576 | 2.7 miles |
| Wixams Academy | 47.5 | 9.9% | 21.1% | 903 | 3.1 miles |
| Biddenham International School and Sports College | 42.1 | 8.8% | 35.3% | 1,422 | 3.4 miles |
| Bedford Free School | 46.5 | 7.7% | 28.6% | 536 | 4.1 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 19.72%
- English as an additional language
- 6.5%
- Overall absence
- 9.29%
- Persistent absence
- 26.87%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Kempston Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Bedford
-
Daubeney Academy2.7 miles
Secondary · Bedford
-
Wixams Academy3.1 miles
Secondary · Bedford
-
Biddenham International School and Sports College3.4 miles
Secondary · Bedford
-
Bedford Free School4.1 miles
Secondary · Bedford
Other schools in Bedford
Wootton Academy ranks 8th of the 14 ranked secondary schools in Bedford.
- Bedford Academy Secondary
- Bedford Free School Secondary
- Biddenham International School and Sports College Secondary
- Castle Newnham School Secondary
- Daubeney Academy Secondary
- Goldington Academy Secondary
- Kempston Academy Secondary
- Lincroft Academy Secondary
- Mark Rutherford School Secondary
- Redborne Upper School and Community College Secondary
- Sharnbrook Academy Secondary
- St Thomas More Catholic School Secondary
Recorded changes at this school
- School name changed from Wootton Upper School to Wootton Academy recorded 14 Jul 2026
Common questions
- What year groups does Wootton Academy teach?
- Wootton Academy teaches children aged 13 to 18. It is a secondary school in Bedford.
- Who is the executive principal of Wootton Academy?
- The executive principal of Wootton Academy is Mrs Carrie McMorn, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Wootton Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Wootton 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 Wootton Academy?
- Wootton Academy has 822 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 13 to 18.
- Is Wootton Academy full?
- Wootton Academy has capacity for 1,218 pupils and 822 on roll (67%), 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 Wootton Academy a faith school?
- No. Wootton Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Wootton Academy a selective school?
- No. Wootton Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Wootton Academy?
- Wootton Academy is part of WOOTTON ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Wootton Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.8 in 2022/23 and 44.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Wootton Academy rank locally?
- Wootton Academy ranked 7th of 13 secondary schools in Bedford for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 54% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Wootton Academy's absence rate?
- Wootton Academy's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Wootton Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Wootton 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 14 July 2026.