Shortstown Primary School
Beauvais Square, Shortstown, Bedford, MK42 0GS
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- HEART ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Denise Cottam
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Harpur Trust
- Constituency
- North Bedfordshire
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 479
- URN
- 144546
- Local authority
- Bedford
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01234740881
About this school
Shortstown Primary School is a primary academy in Bedford. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 479 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 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
- Expected standard
- 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 | 53 | 60 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 45% | 45% | 60% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 60% | 67% | 75% |
| Expected standard in maths | 72% | 62% | 77% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 68% | 70% | 80% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 101.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.00 | - | - |
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 Shortstown 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 | 45% | 50.7% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 45% | 53.8% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 60% | 52.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 475 |
| 2023/24 | 480 |
| 2024/25 | 488 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Shortstown Primary School compares
Shortstown Primary School ranked 24th of 51 primary schools in Bedford for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 40% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 81% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 60% | 4.2% | 27.1% | 479 | — |
| King's Oak Primary School | 61% | 6% | 42.2% | 826 | 1.1 miles |
| Cotton End Forest School | 77% | 4.7% | 17.7% | 435 | 1.2 miles |
| Elstow School | 74% | 4.9% | 21.5% | 413 | 1.4 miles |
| Shackleton Primary School | 54% | 5.9% | 37.3% | 487 | 1.6 miles |
| Lakeview School | — | — | — | 436 | 1.8 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 report3 February 2026
- 12 October 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 27.07%
- English as an additional language
- 23.4%
- Overall absence
- 4.19%
- Persistent absence
- 7.32%
Location
Nearby schools
-
King's Oak Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Cotton End Forest School1.2 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Elstow School1.4 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Shackleton Primary School1.6 miles
Primary · Bedford
-
Lakeview School1.8 miles
Primary · Bedford
Other schools in Bedford
Shortstown Primary School ranks 23rd 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 Shortstown Primary School teach?
- Shortstown Primary School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Bedford.
- Who is the headteacher of Shortstown Primary School?
- The headteacher of Shortstown Primary School is Mrs Denise Cottam, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Shortstown Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Shortstown 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 Shortstown Primary School?
- Shortstown Primary School has 479 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Shortstown Primary School full?
- Shortstown Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 479 on roll (114%), 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 Shortstown Primary School a faith school?
- No. Shortstown Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Shortstown Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Shortstown Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Shortstown Primary School?
- Shortstown 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 Shortstown Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 45% in 2022/23 and 60% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Shortstown Primary School rank locally?
- Shortstown Primary School ranked 24th of 51 primary schools in Bedford for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 40% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 81% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Shortstown Primary School's absence rate?
- Shortstown Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Shortstown Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Shortstown 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.