Contested schools in Central Bedfordshire
These are the Central Bedfordshire 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 Central Bedfordshire
Secondary schools (2)
Each has its own page with a 12-year demand history.
| School | Places | First choices | Per place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houstone School | 184 | 209 | 1.14 |
| Stratton School | 131 | 133 | 1.02 |
Primary schools (44)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dovery Academy | 29 | 53 | 1.83 |
| Linslade Lower School | 30 | 48 | 1.60 |
| Lark Rise Academy | 45 | 69 | 1.53 |
| Thomas Johnson Lower School | 15 | 23 | 1.53 |
| Haynes Lower School | 24 | 36 | 1.50 |
| Clifton All Saints Academy | 30 | 42 | 1.40 |
| Toddington St George Church of England School | 58 | 79 | 1.36 |
| Gravenhurst Academy | 15 | 20 | 1.33 |
| Raynsford Church of England Academy | 30 | 40 | 1.33 |
| Beaudesert Lower School | 56 | 74 | 1.32 |
| Heathwood Lower School | 27 | 34 | 1.26 |
| Watling Lower School | 28 | 35 | 1.25 |
| St Vincent's Catholic Primary School | 30 | 36 | 1.20 |
| Potton Primary School | 59 | 69 | 1.17 |
| Woburn Lower School | 12 | 14 | — |
| Maple Tree Primary School | 30 | 34 | 1.13 |
| St Mary's CofE Academy Stotfold | 59 | 66 | 1.12 |
| Derwent Primary School | 60 | 66 | 1.10 |
| Stanbridge Lower School | 24 | 26 | 1.08 |
| Caldecote Church of England Academy | 15 | 16 | — |
| Southill Lower School | 15 | 16 | — |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School | 28 | 30 | 1.07 |
| Houghton Regis Primary School | 45 | 47 | 1.04 |
| Russell Lower School | 90 | 94 | 1.04 |
| Shefford Lower School | 90 | 94 | 1.04 |
| St. Augustine's Academy | 26 | 27 | 1.04 |
| Thornhill Primary School | 89 | 93 | 1.04 |
| Ashton St Peter's VA C of E School | 30 | 31 | 1.03 |
| Lawnside Academy | 60 | 61 | 1.02 |
| Maulden Lower School | 23 | 23 | 1 |
| St Swithun's Church of England VC Primary School | 14 | 14 | — |
| Ramsey Manor Lower School | 54 | 53 | 0.98 |
| Swallowfield Primary | 46 | 45 | 0.98 |
| Cranfield Church of England Academy | 86 | 82 | 0.95 |
| Pulford CofE VA Lower School | 45 | 42 | 0.93 |
| Sutton CofE VA Primary School | 15 | 14 | — |
| Houghton Conquest Lower School | 23 | 21 | 0.91 |
| Beecroft Academy | 60 | 54 | 0.90 |
| Langford Village Academy | 45 | 40 | 0.89 |
| Fairfield Park Lower School | 85 | 74 | 0.87 |
| Hadrian Academy | 60 | 52 | 0.87 |
| Greenleas School | 43 | 37 | 0.86 |
| Eversholt Lower School | 6 | 5 | — |
| St Andrew's CofE VC Primary School | 57 | 45 | 0.79 |
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.