Castle Newnham School

School overview

Castle Newnham School is a secondary school serving Bedford, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. It has 750 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 42.7, below the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 2.0 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

34% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 62% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. 97% of the families who made Castle Newnham School their first choice were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026, even though the school made at least as many offers as it had first choices - the rest withdrew, moved or fell outside a priority group. The council's own allocation figures show the last child offered a place for 2026 lived 2.72 miles away in a straight line — that distance is not a fixed catchment and moves each year. After Year 11, 89% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. There are about 16.3 pupils per teacher. Castle Newnham 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.