Shefford Lower School
Shefford, SG17 5XA · Central Bedfordshire local authority
Shefford’s School Grade C− better than 18% of towns in England
What stands out about Shefford Lower School
- No letter for this school: the reason is below.
- Over capacity: 514 pupils for 450 places
- 14% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (fewer than England’s 25%)
- Ofsted: Good, May 2023 (shown, not graded)
- 89% of families who put it first got a place for September 2026 (84 of 94)
- Homes in its postcode sector (SG17 5) sold for a median £395,000; Shefford’s is £350,000
How hard is it to get a place at Shefford Lower School?
89% of the families who put it first got a place for September 2026.
Years when some first choices missed out: 2019 (1), 2020 (2), 2021 (6), 2023 (19), 2024 (4), 2025 (1), 2026 (10). The council runs the coordinated admissions; each school’s rules (siblings, distance, faith) decide who gets in. DfE doesn’t publish the furthest distance offered, so check the council’s admissions booklet for that. Central Bedfordshire council sets the admissions rules. Apply through Central Bedfordshire council’s coordinated admissions.
Outline = places offered · green = families who put it first · striped = more first choices than places
89% got their first choice
Who goes here
DfE school census, January 2025518 pupils. SEN support is extra help in school for a special educational need; an EHC plan is the council’s legal plan for pupils who need more.
Girls and boys
No letter for Shefford Lower School
A first or lower school: pupils move on before the Key Stage 2 tests at 11, so there are no results to grade.
Letters go to England’s open mainstream state schools with published Key Stage 2 or GCSE results (grammar schools included), each against the schools of its own phase.
Ofsted inspections
Shown, not graded: Ofsted is never part of a letter or the School Grade.
Ungraded inspection: School remains Good, May 2023.
Living near Shefford Lower School
For families thinking of moving: what homes cost around the school, and the other schools close by.
Home prices in SG17 5, the school’s postcode sector
Shefford property prices →Median sale price each year, 2010 to 2025
By type, the 36 months to August 2026
Homes in SG17 5 sell for a little over Shefford’s typical price. HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales. Catchments aren’t published, so the postcode sector stands in for “around the school”.
Schools within 1.6 miles
4 state schoolsLocation
Directions ↗Shefford, SG17 5XA
Shefford Lower School: common questions
How hard is it to get into Shefford Lower School?
For September 2026, 94 families put Shefford Lower School first and 84 of them were offered a place; 90 places were offered in all.
What is Shefford Lower School’s Ofsted rating?
Its latest inspection outcome is Good (May 2023).
How much do houses cost near Shefford Lower School?
Homes in its postcode sector, SG17 5, sold for a median £395,000 over the 36 months to August 2026 (740 sales).
Sources: DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), Key Stage 2 performance tables (2023–2025, three-year average) and Key Stage 4 (2025/26, provisional); Ofsted state-funded school inspections as at 30 September 2026. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Also: DfE Key Stage 4 performance, schools data (2023/24 and 2024/25 final, 2025/26 provisional) and Key Stage 2 performance tables 2024/25 by subject; DfE school census, January 2025; DfE school-level applications and offers, September 2019 to 2026 entry; HM Land Registry Price Paid by postcode sector, 2010 to August 2026.
A school’s letter is our own summary of its published results against England’s schools of the same phase; Shefford’s School Grade is a separate grade, built from the results of the schools in and around the town against other towns. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.