River Bank Primary School
Bath Road, Luton, LU3 1ES
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ACTIVE EDUCATION ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher David Sansom
- Constituency
- Luton South and South Bedfordshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 840
- Pupils on roll
- 793
- URN
- 139782
- Local authority
- Luton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582531860
About this school
River Bank Primary School is a primary academy in Luton. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 793 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected River Bank Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. 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
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found the school has improved significantly.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 114 | 86 | 82 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 62% | 77% | 78% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 6% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 80% | 88% | 85% |
| Expected standard in maths | 83% | 92% | 93% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 87% | 85% | 88% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 107.0 | 108.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 106.0 | 108.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.70 | - | - |
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 River Bank Primary 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 | Luton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 62% | 58% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 77% | 59.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 78% | 62.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 708 |
| 2023/24 | 736 |
| 2024/25 | 769 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How River Bank Primary School compares
River Bank Primary School ranked 7th of 37 primary schools in Luton for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 78% | 6.5% | 26% | 793 | — |
| Denbigh Primary School | 82% | 5.8% | 26.2% | 610 | 0.5 miles |
| William Austin Junior School | 71% | 5.2% | 30.2% | 498 | 0.6 miles |
| William Austin Infant School | — | 6% | 20.7% | 313 | 0.6 miles |
| Beech Hill Community Primary School | 58% | 5.6% | 32.1% | 888 | 0.6 miles |
| Maidenhall Primary School | 67% | 6.9% | 24% | 628 | 0.7 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
-
Ungraded inspection report22 January 2025
- 1 October 2019
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 26.01%
- English as an additional language
- 62.8%
- Overall absence
- 6.52%
- Persistent absence
- 18.05%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Denbigh Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Luton
-
William Austin Junior School0.6 miles
Primary · Luton
-
William Austin Infant School0.6 miles
Primary · Luton
-
Beech Hill Community Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Luton
-
Maidenhall Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Luton
Other schools in Luton
River Bank Primary School ranks 7th of the 41 ranked primary schools in Luton.
- Beech Hill Community Primary School Primary
- Beechwood Primary School Primary
- Bramingham Primary School Primary
- Bushmead Primary & Nursery School Primary
- Caddington Village School Primary
- Chalton Lower School Primary
- Chantry Primary Academy Primary
- Cockernhoe Endowed CofE Primary School Primary
- Crawley Green Infant School Primary
- Cutenhoe Hill Primary School ( Formerly Surrey Street) Primary
- Dallow Primary School Primary
- Denbigh Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does River Bank Primary School teach?
- River Bank Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Luton.
- Who is the headteacher of River Bank Primary School?
- The headteacher of River Bank Primary School is Headteacher David Sansom, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has River Bank Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected River Bank Primary 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 many pupils are at River Bank Primary School?
- River Bank Primary School has 793 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is River Bank Primary School full?
- River Bank Primary School has capacity for 840 pupils and 793 on roll (94%), 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 River Bank Primary School a faith school?
- No. River Bank Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does River Bank Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records River Bank Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Is River Bank Primary School part of an academy trust?
- River Bank Primary School is part of ACTIVE EDUCATION ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have River Bank Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 62% in 2022/23 and 78% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does River Bank Primary School compare with other schools in Luton?
- River Bank Primary School ranked 7th of 37 primary schools in Luton for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is River Bank Primary School's absence rate?
- River Bank Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are River Bank Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, River Bank Primary 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 1 July 2026.