Houstone School
Parkside Drive, Houghton Regis, Dunstable, LU5 5PX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ADVANTAGE SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Ms Elizabeth English
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Advantage Schools Trust
- Constituency
- Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 765
- URN
- 149107
- Local authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582377771
About this school
Houstone School is a secondary academy in Dunstable. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 765 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Houstone 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
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 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 52 | 70 |
| Attainment 8 score | 32.7 | 46.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.74 -1.16 to -0.33 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 26.9% | 55.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 44.2% | 77.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 1.9% | 27.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.8 | 4.2 |
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 Houstone 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 | Central Bedfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 41.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 32.7 | 38.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.1 | 42.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 285 |
| 2023/24 | 517 |
| 2024/25 | 657 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Houstone School compares
Houstone School ranked 7th of 14 secondary schools in Central Bedfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.1 | 7.4% | 29.4% | 765 | — |
| The Chalk Hills Academy | 45.7 | 8.7% | 35.1% | 1,644 | 1.3 miles |
| Lealands High School | 44.3 | 6.8% | 35% | 1,025 | 1.4 miles |
| All Saints Academy Dunstable | 36.9 | 8.6% | 34.7% | 520 | 1.7 miles |
| Challney High School for Girls | 50.1 | 6.3% | 30.3% | 1,062 | 1.8 miles |
| Challney High School for Boys | 47.7 | 7% | 28.4% | 1,197 | 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)
- 29.38%
- English as an additional language
- 34.2%
- Overall absence
- 7.43%
- Persistent absence
- 23%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Chalk Hills Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Luton
-
Lealands High School1.4 miles
Secondary · Luton
-
All Saints Academy Dunstable1.7 miles
Secondary · Dunstable
-
Challney High School for Girls1.8 miles
Secondary · Luton
-
Challney High School for Boys2.0 miles
Secondary · Luton
Other schools in Dunstable
Houstone School ranks 3rd of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Dunstable.
- All Saints Academy Dunstable Secondary
- Harlington Upper School Secondary
- Queensbury Academy Secondary
- Westfield Nursery School Nursery
- Willow Nursery School Nursery
- Ardley Hill Academy Primary
- Ashton St Peter's VA C of E School Primary
- Beecroft Academy Primary
- Dunstable Icknield Lower School Primary
- Eaton Bray Academy Primary
- Edlesborough Primary Academy Primary
- Hadrian Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Houstone School teach?
- Houstone School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Dunstable.
- Who is the headteacher of Houstone School?
- The headteacher of Houstone School is Ms Elizabeth English, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Houstone School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Houstone 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 Houstone School?
- Houstone School has 765 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Houstone School full?
- Houstone School has capacity for 900 pupils and 765 on roll (85%), 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 Houstone School a faith school?
- No. Houstone School has no designated religious character.
- Is Houstone School a selective school?
- No. Houstone School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Houstone School part of an academy trust?
- Houstone School is part of ADVANTAGE SCHOOLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Houstone School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 32.7 in 2023/24 and 46.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Houstone School compare with other schools in Central Bedfordshire?
- Houstone School ranked 7th of 14 secondary schools in Central Bedfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Houstone School's absence rate?
- Houstone School's overall absence rate is 7.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Houstone School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Houstone 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.