← GCSE results 2026 for England
Grade 5+ in English and maths, 2026
GCSE results 2026
Bedford GCSE results 2026
Provisional 2025/26 results for 13 state secondary schools in Bedford, 2,445 pupils. Bedford ranks 113 of 151 councils for Attainment 8, which fell by 0.3 points on 2025.
Grade 5+ English & maths
42.5%
5.3 pts below England
Grade 7+ English & maths
9.1%
5.6 pts below England
Attainment 8
44.9
2.7 points below England
Council rank
113 / 151
By average Attainment 8
Bedford at a glance
- Highest Attainment 8: Goldington Academy (52.0).
- Schools range from 38.4 to 52.0 on Attainment 8, a spread of 13.6 points, so the school you choose matters more than the council average.
- Disadvantaged pupils averaged 35.4, 12.9 points behind their classmates (a smaller gap than England’s 13.8). They did best at Bedford Free School (42.4).
- Most improved on 2025: Daubeney Academy, up 7.6 points to 46.1.
Every Bedford secondary school, ranked
Ranked by Attainment 8 · 2025/26 provisional · E&M: English and maths
| # | School | Pupils | Attainment 8 | vs 2025 | Grade 4+ E&M | Grade 5+ E&M | Grade 7+ E&M | Disadvantaged A8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goldington Academy | 191 | 52.0 | −2.3 | 75.4% | 59.7% | 18.3% | 39.1 |
| 2 | Bedford Free School | 103 | 51.0 | +4.5 | 68.0% | 58.3% | 15.5% | 42.4 |
| 3 | Lincroft Academy | 194 | 50.4 | +5.4 | 78.4% | 55.7% | 11.9% | 40.4 |
| 4 | Sharnbrook Academy | 264 | 47.7 | −3.9 | 67.4% | 45.8% | 11.7% | 37.3 |
| 5 | Daubeney Academy | 118 | 46.1 | +7.6 | 61.0% | 51.7% | 16.1% | 33.2 |
| 6 | Castle Newnham School | 150 | 44.8 | +2.1 | 62.7% | 40.7% | 8.0% | 34.6 |
| 7 | Wootton Upper School | 288 | 44.8 | +0.5 | 62.8% | 41.7% | 9.7% | 31.8 |
| 8 | Bedford Academy | 224 | 44.4 | +1.6 | 60.7% | 35.7% | 4.9% | 42.1 |
| 9 | Wixams Academy | 154 | 43.9 | −3.6 | 64.9% | 44.2% | 9.1% | 37.2 |
| 10 | St Thomas More Catholic SchoolRoman Catholic | 153 | 41.0 | −6.0 | 49.7% | 36.6% | 2.6% | 29.0 |
| 11 | Mark Rutherford School | 212 | 40.7 | −0.8 | 59.0% | 28.3% | 4.7% | 31.1 |
| 12 | Biddenham International School and Sports College | 236 | 40.3 | −1.8 | 55.1% | 35.2% | 4.7% | 34.1 |
| 13 | Kempston Academy | 158 | 38.4 | −1.9 | 53.2% | 29.1% | 5.7% | 28.7 |
| England average | 47.6 | 66.8% | 47.8% | 14.7% | 37.7 |
Disadvantaged A8: Attainment 8 of pupils eligible for free school meals in the last six years or looked after; blank where the school has too few to publish. Small year groups move more from year to year.
Bedford against the rest of the East of England
- Southend-on-Sea56.0%
- Hertfordshire54.7%
- Cambridgeshire52.3%
- Thurrock46.8%
- Luton46.1%
- Essex45.1%
- Norfolk44.0%
- Bedford42.5%
- Central Bedfordshire42.3%
- Suffolk41.1%
- Peterborough40.8%
Reading these figures
- Attainment 8 is out of 90: a pupil’s grades in eight GCSE slots added up, with English and maths counted twice.
- There is no Progress 8 this year (these pupils sat no KS2 SATs), so results partly reflect each school’s intake.
- These are provisional figures; revised ones with re-marks follow in early 2027.
- Source: Department for Education, Key stage 4 performance (school-level data). Council figures are our pupil-weighted calculation over state-funded mainstream schools; independent schools are not included.