Daubeney Academy
Orchard Street, Kempston, Bedford, MK42 7PS
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- CHILTERN LEARNING TRUST
- Head Teacher
- Mr Chris Carter
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Chiltern Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Bedford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 583
- Pupils on roll
- 576
- URN
- 138067
- Local authority
- Bedford
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01234400111
About this school
Daubeney Academy is a secondary academy in Bedford. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 576 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 88 | 79 | 109 |
| Attainment 8 score | 36.1 | 35.6 | 38.5 |
| Progress 8 score | - | +0.02 -0.32 to +0.37 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 31% | 32.9% | 29.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 51% | 51.9% | 55% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 25% | 21.5% | 22% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
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 Daubeney 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 | 36.1 | 38 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 35.6 | 38.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.5 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 481 |
| 2023/24 | 504 |
| 2024/25 | 561 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Daubeney Academy compares
Daubeney Academy ranked 13th of 13 secondary schools in Bedford for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 27% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.5 | 6.8% | 26.7% | 576 | — |
| Kempston Academy | 40.3 | 8.7% | 30% | 773 | 1.1 miles |
| Bedford Academy | 42.8 | 8.6% | 37.8% | 1,480 | 1.4 miles |
| Bedford Free School | 46.5 | 7.7% | 28.6% | 536 | 1.5 miles |
| Biddenham International School and Sports College | 42.1 | 8.8% | 35.3% | 1,422 | 1.7 miles |
| Wixams Academy | 47.5 | 9.9% | 21.1% | 903 | 2.0 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)
- 26.74%
- English as an additional language
- 35.7%
- Overall absence
- 6.82%
- Persistent absence
- 18.34%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Kempston Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Bedford
-
Bedford Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Bedford
-
Bedford Free School1.5 miles
Secondary · Bedford
-
Biddenham International School and Sports College1.7 miles
Secondary · Bedford
-
Wixams Academy2.0 miles
Secondary · Bedford
Other schools in Bedford
Daubeney Academy ranks 14th 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
- 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
- Wixams Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Daubeney Academy teach?
- Daubeney Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bedford.
- Who is the head teacher of Daubeney Academy?
- The head teacher of Daubeney Academy is Mr Chris Carter, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Daubeney Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Daubeney 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 Daubeney Academy?
- Daubeney Academy has 576 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Daubeney Academy full?
- Daubeney Academy has capacity for 583 pupils and 576 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 Daubeney Academy a faith school?
- No. Daubeney Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Daubeney Academy a selective school?
- No. Daubeney Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Daubeney Academy?
- Daubeney 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 Daubeney Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 36.1 in 2022/23 and 38.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Daubeney Academy rank locally?
- Daubeney Academy ranked 13th of 13 secondary schools in Bedford for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 27% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Daubeney Academy's absence rate?
- Daubeney Academy's overall absence rate is 6.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Daubeney Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Daubeney 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.