Houstone School
Secondary · Free schools · Mixed · Central Bedfordshire
Parkside Drive, Dunstable, LU5 5PX
47
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Not judged
Graded 20/05/2025
Application demand
67%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
92.6%
23.0% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
765
Capacity used
Has space85%
900 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
67%
1st preference success rate
8 of 12 families who put it first got an offer
8
Places offered
30
Total applications
3.8
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 12 | 8 | ● 67% |
| 2nd preference | 12 | 0 | ● 0% |
| 3rd preference | 6 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 30 | 8 | 27% |
1st preference success by year
Central Bedfordshire lets families list 3 preferences. 30 applications came from outside the council area (8 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Free schools
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Elizabeth English
- Address
- Parkside Drive, Houghton Regis, Dunstable, LU5 5PX
- Phone
- 01582377771
- Local authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Ward / constituency
- Houghton Regis East · Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 149107
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 28% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 34% | — | — |
| SEN support | 8% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: ADVANTAGE SCHOOLS
765 pupils · 900 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 25
20 May 2025
Full graded inspection
Not judged overall effectivenessPersonal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 700 pupils
Attendance
92.6%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.4%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
23.0%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.1%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.0%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 32.7 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.74 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 27% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 44% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 2.77 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 46.1 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 55.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 77.1% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 27.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.16 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 70 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 68 | 16% | 72% | 88% | |
| Combined Science | 67 | 21% | 46% | 66% | |
| English Language | 67 | 19% | 61% | 76% | |
| English Literature | 67 | 16% | 57% | 73% | |
| History | 36 | 11% | 50% | 50% | |
| Geography | 35 | 20% | 37% | 57% | |
| Computer Science | 30 | 10% | 33% | 50% | |
| Physical Education | 30 | 3% | 30% | 47% | |
| Art and Design | 26 | 0% | 19% | 46% | |
| Spanish | 22 | 27% | 59% | 77% | |
| Religious Studies | 20 | 40% | 70% | 85% | |
| Polish | 3 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Central Bedfordshire council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.