Russell Lower School

Community school·First school Ampthill, Central Bedfordshire·MK45 2TD

School type

First school

Ages 5–9

Key Stage 2 performance

Russell Lower School is a first school for pupils aged 5–9. Pupils move on to a separate junior or middle school before Year 6, so the school does not enter pupils for the Key Stage 2 SATs and has no KS2 results to publish.

This applies to every first school in England — it does not mean data is missing. Ofsted judgements and school information are shown below.

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first

95%

94 first choices, 90 places

First choices per place

1.04

more first choices than places

Applications naming the school

153

any preference, for 90 places

Applications from another council area

First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.18

00.511.5

1 per place

1.0220220.9920231.2120241.2220251.042026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Central Bedfordshire does not publish how far from the school the last child offered a Reception place lived, so there is no cut-off distance to show for Russell Lower School. Ask the school or the council how places were allocated this year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range: 5–9
Pupils on roll: 443
Gender: Mixed
Religious character: None

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6

5.0%

Typical primary: 21.5%

% EAL

2.0%

Typical primary: 9.6%

Special educational needs

% SEN support

10.4%

Typical primary: 14.3%

% with an EHC plan

2.0%

Typical primary: 3.0%

Attendance

Overall absence

3.8%

Typical primary: 5.3%

Persistently absent

3.9%

Typical primary: 13.3%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher

22.3

Typical primary: 20.7

Spend per pupil

£6,446

Typical primary: £6,960

“Typical” = the median primary school in England. What this means

Nearby primary schools

Alameda Middle School Bedford · 0.4 mi 36.6 Woodland Middle School Academy Bedford · 1.7 mi 26.5 Arnold Academy Bedford · 5.3 mi 47.2 Parkfields Middle School Dunstable · 5.6 mi 36.0 Holywell School Bedford · 5.8 mi 18.7 Meppershall Church of England Academy Shefford · 6.2 mi 19.5 Robert Bloomfield Academy Shefford · 6.4 mi 30.8 Fulbrook School Milton Keynes · 6.6 mi 28.3

Location

Official sources

Latest Ofsted report reports.ofsted.gov.uk DfE Compare School Performance compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk GIAS school details get-information-schools.service.gov.uk

School overview

Russell Lower School is a primary school serving Ampthill, Central Bedfordshire, classified by the DfE as a community school. It has 443 pupils aged 5 to 9 on roll.

Russell Lower School is oversubscribed: about 9 in 10 of the families who made it their first choice were offered a Reception place for September 2026, with 94 first choices for 90 places. Overall pupil absence was 3.8%. There are about 22.3 pupils per teacher. Its intake is relatively advantaged, with around 5% of pupils eligible for free school meals in the last six years versus about 24% nationally. Russell Lower School does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.