Shackleton Primary School
Pearcey Road, Bedford, MK42 9LZ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- HEART ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Dr Andie BenBrahim
- Sponsor
- Harpur Trust
- Constituency
- Bedford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 480
- Pupils on roll
- 487
- URN
- 144545
- Local authority
- Bedford
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01234352912
About this school
Shackleton Primary School is a primary academy in Bedford. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 487 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 88 | 90 | 56 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 29% | 43% | 54% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 61% | 67% | 63% |
| Expected standard in maths | 56% | 66% | 66% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 55% | 61% | 48% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 103.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 100.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.90 | - | - |
| 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 Shackleton 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 | Bedford average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 29% | 50.7% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 43% | 53.8% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 54% | 52.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 509 |
| 2023/24 | 476 |
| 2024/25 | 465 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Shackleton Primary School compares
Shackleton Primary School ranked 33rd of 51 primary schools in Bedford for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 28% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54% | 5.9% | 37.3% | 487 | — |
| King's Oak Primary School | 61% | 6% | 42.2% | 826 | 0.5 miles |
| Cauldwell School | 74% | 4.3% | 26% | 415 | 0.5 miles |
| Elstow School | 74% | 4.9% | 21.5% | 413 | 0.8 miles |
| Camestone School | 48% | 4.6% | 11.8% | 408 | 1.1 miles |
| Priory Primary School | 50% | 6.1% | 25.1% | 214 | 1.1 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
-
Graded inspection report27 January 2026
- 28 September 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 37.25%
- English as an additional language
- 58.1%
- Overall absence
- 5.93%
- Persistent absence
- 18.31%
Location
Nearby schools
-
King's Oak Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Cauldwell School0.5 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Elstow School0.8 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Camestone School1.1 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Priory Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Bedford
Other schools in Bedford
Shackleton Primary School ranks 32nd of the 53 ranked primary schools in Bedford.
- Balliol Primary School Primary
- Bedford Road Primary Academy Primary
- Brickhill Primary School Primary
- Broadmead Lower School Primary
- Bromham CofE Primary School Primary
- Camestone School Primary
- Carlton CofE Primary School Primary
- Castle Newnham School Primary
- Cauldwell School Primary
- Cotton End Forest School Primary
- Cranfield Church of England Academy Primary
- Edith Cavell Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Shackleton Primary School teach?
- Shackleton Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Bedford.
- Who is the headteacher of Shackleton Primary School?
- The headteacher of Shackleton Primary School is Dr Andie BenBrahim, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Shackleton Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Shackleton 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 big is Shackleton Primary School?
- Shackleton Primary School has 487 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Shackleton Primary School full?
- Shackleton Primary School has capacity for 480 pupils and 487 on roll (101%), so it is at or above 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 Shackleton Primary School a faith school?
- No. Shackleton Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Shackleton Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Shackleton Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Shackleton Primary School?
- Shackleton Primary School is part of HEART ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Shackleton Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 29% in 2022/23 and 54% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Shackleton Primary School rank locally?
- Shackleton Primary School ranked 33rd of 51 primary schools in Bedford for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 28% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Shackleton Primary School's absence rate?
- Shackleton Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Shackleton Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Shackleton 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 10 July 2026.