Bedwell Primary School

About Bedwell Primary School

Bedwell Primary School sits within Hertfordshire’s large primary landscape, where it ranks 199th out of 401 state primary schools in the local authority. In the more immediate Stevenage area, it places 6th out of 19 primaries, placing it comfortably in the top third locally. The top-performing peers in the wider Hertfordshire primary field are Little Gaddesden Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Harvey Road Primary School, and The Russell School, all of which achieved perfect ranking scores. Bedwell is a mixed, non-religious state primary for children aged 4 to 11, with a nursery on site. It is led by headteacher Emma Shaw and currently has 307 pupils against a capacity of 360, meaning there is some room for growth. The school serves a community with a relatively high level of disadvantage: 38.8 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average.

Academically, Bedwell’s most recent Ofsted inspection in March 2022 rated it Good across every category, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision. This marks a clear improvement from its previous inspection in 2018, when the school was rated Requires Improvement overall, with leadership and management also at that lower grade. At Key Stage 2 in 2023/24, 61 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, just below the Hertfordshire local authority average of 64 per cent. However, the school’s average scores in reading (105) and maths (104) were both above the national benchmark of 100. A higher proportion of pupils achieved the higher standard in maths (27 per cent) than in reading (23 per cent), while writing at the higher level was much lower at 5 per cent. Nationally, Bedwell ranks in the bottom half of primaries on its combined expected standard score, sitting at the 53rd percentile.

The school offers a broad set of facilities including playing fields, a library, forest school area, art studios, a gymnasium, sports hall, sensory room, and a chapel. Sports on offer include cricket, athletics, dance, netball and cross country, while clubs range from drama and choir to gardening and film club. Bedwell is well equipped for SEND, with provisions covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: it received 76 applications for 31 places, with 28 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.45. This suggests strong local demand, particularly from families who value the school’s inclusive SEND support and its improved Ofsted rating. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is Letchmore Infants’ and Nursery School, 1.7 km away.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About Bedwell Primary School

Helpful Guides for Parents