Silsoe CofE VC Lower School, Bedford

Overview

Silsoe CofE VC Lower School is a state-funded school (voluntary controlled school) in Bedford, East of England, for pupils aged 4–9. This summary is generated only from official structured fields.

School details

Official establishment type: Voluntary controlled school
Establishment group: Local authority maintained schools
Phase of education: Primary
Age range: Ages 4–9
Gender of entry: Mixed
Boarding: No boarders
Sixth form: No
Religious character: Church of England
School capacity: 300
Pupils on roll: 251
URN: 109605

Admissions

Local authority: Central Bedfordshire

Contact the school or your local authority for catchment and application deadlines.

School places

DfE school capacity survey · May 2025 (2024/25)

Capacity at survey date: 300
Pupils on roll: 277
Unfilled places at survey date: 23

A dated snapshot from the Department for Education school capacity survey, separate from the school details above. Unfilled places at the survey date do not mean places are currently available for admission. About this data

Official admissions data

Applications & demand

Preferences expressed by families through coordinated admissions, shown over time.

2026/27 admissions · Reception

First preferences: 29
Total preferences: 57
Offers made: 29

First preferences compared with offers

1 first preferences per offer

29 first preferences and 29 offers were recorded for 2026/27.

What does this mean?

This is the Department for Education's own published comparison of first preferences with total offers recorded. It indicates the level of requests made through coordinated admissions. Offers are not necessarily the school's maximum capacity, admissions arrangements vary between local authorities, the figure is not a measure of school quality, and it should not be used on its own to judge the likelihood of gaining a place.

First preferences over time

Latest five available admissions years. Missing years are not estimated.

Admissions history

Admissions year	First preferences	Total preferences	Offers made
2026/27	29	57	29
2025/26	39	54	40
2024/25	49	64	51
2023/24	52	65	52
2022/23	46	63	46

Source: Department for Education · Applications and offers data.

Official inspection data

Ofsted inspections

Inspection information published by Ofsted, shown in Ofsted's own words.

Ofsted inspection

Inspected 2 March 2023 · Published 22 June 2023

Original education inspection framework (September 2019 to August 2024)

Overall effectiveness

Good

This is a historical Ofsted judgement given under the previous inspection framework. It is not a School Nest rating.

Quality of education: Good
Behaviour and attitudes: Good
Personal development: Good
Effectiveness of leadership and management: Good
Safeguarding was effective: Yes
Early years provision (where applicable): Good

View on Ofsted(opens in a new tab)

Ofsted changed how it inspects and reports on schools in November 2025. Judgements from the previous and current frameworks use different systems and should not be directly compared.

School Nest shows the inspection information Ofsted currently publishes for this school. It is not a complete record of every inspection the school has ever had.

Source: Ofsted · Inspections and outcomes. Official Ofsted page for this school

SEND and additional needs

Types of special educational need recorded in the official dataset. These describe recorded provision, not a judgement of quality.

SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health

Location

Address: Chestnut Avenue, Silsoe, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK45 4GP
Local authority: Central Bedfordshire
Area: Schools in Central Bedfordshire

Ask School Nest AI

Ask a question about Silsoe CofE VC Lower School

Answers use only this school's official Department for Education record and the information the school has published on School Nest. If we don't hold the answer, School Nest AI will say so rather than guess.

AI can make mistakes and doesn't decide admissions — check important details with the school. Questions are sent to our AI provider and aren't stored by School Nest. See our Privacy Notice.

Contact this school

Parent Enquiries let families send a message straight to the school.