Contested schools in Bedford
These are the Bedford schools that turned first-choice families away in at least one of the last three years — either because more families named them first than they had places, or because they refused families who named them first anyway. Figures shown are for 2026/27. Demand is not a forecast: an oversubscribed school turns more families away, which is not the same as their appeals succeeding more often.
Appeal success rates for Bedford
Secondary schools (4)
Each has its own page with a 12-year demand history.
| School | Places | First choices | Per place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford Free School | 109 | 168 | 1.54 |
| Goldington Academy | 182 | 272 | 1.49 |
| Biddenham International School and Sports College | 252 | 267 | 1.06 |
| Castle Newnham School | 147 | 106 | 0.72 |
Primary schools (18)
Primary schools are listed here as figures rather than pages. Most refusals at the Reception intake are infant class size cases, where a panel can only act on three narrow grounds and fewer than one in ten appeals succeeds — so the honest thing to publish is the data, not a page inviting an appeal.
| School | Places | First choices | Per place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priory Primary School | 28 | 44 | 1.57 |
| Great Denham Primary School | 89 | 115 | 1.29 |
| Hazeldene School | 60 | 75 | 1.25 |
| The Hills Academy | 59 | 72 | 1.22 |
| Livingstone Primary School | 59 | 69 | 1.17 |
| Cauldwell School | 59 | 68 | 1.15 |
| Kymbrook Primary School | 7 | 8 | — |
| Willow Grove Primary School | 60 | 68 | 1.13 |
| Kempston Rural Primary School | 59 | 63 | 1.07 |
| Great Ouse Primary Academy | 60 | 63 | 1.05 |
| Shortstown Primary School | 56 | 56 | 1 |
| Ursula Taylor Church of England School | 42 | 41 | 0.98 |
| Cotton End Forest School | 51 | 48 | 0.94 |
| Brickhill Primary School | 29 | 27 | 0.93 |
| St James' CofE Academy | 30 | 28 | 0.93 |
| Scott Primary School & Nursery | 55 | 49 | 0.89 |
| Camestone School | 53 | 46 | 0.87 |
| Castle Newnham School | 88 | 69 | 0.78 |
Department for Education, Primary and secondary school applications and offers, school-level file, 2026/27. Appeal outcomes are not published for individual schools — how we source and calculate the figures.