Gilbert Inglefield Academy, Leighton Buzzard

Ofsted's report card from its 27 January 2026 inspection grades Gilbert Inglefield Academy on 6 areas: 6 urgent improvement. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Urgent improvement. "The published outcomes at the end of key stage 2 are reflective of the weak achievement of pupils throughout the school."

Attendance and behaviour - Urgent improvement. "Pupils' overall attendance rates are close to average."

Curriculum and teaching - Urgent improvement. "In some subjects, for example mathematics, the curriculum lacks ambition."

Inclusion - Urgent improvement. "The needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are not accurately identified."

Leadership and governance - Urgent improvement. "Leaders and governors have not taken appropriate or timely action to secure improvement since the last inspection."

Personal development and wellbeing - Urgent improvement. "The wider offer that could encourage pupils to take on new interests or foster new talents is limited."

Safeguarding standards were NOT met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "• Leaders must secure a clear vision for the school that fosters ambition, secures an open and positive culture of safeguarding and creates a community where pupils feel they belong and can thrive both academically and personally. • Leaders must ensure that they implement an effective set of procedures and practices that protect pupils from harm. Governors must ensure these are routinely checked and meet statutory requirements. • Leaders must ensure that the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are accurately identified, that staff have the expertise to support pupils' progress through the curriculum, and that adaptations to the curriculum and teaching are monitored for impact. • Leaders must ensure that staff have the expertise to check what pupils know, to identify gaps in knowledge and to adapt their approaches to ensure pupils are ready to move on to new learning, achieve well and are well prepared for the next step in their learning. • Leaders should ensure that teachers have the subject and pedagogical expertise to teach the curriculum as intended. • Leaders should ensure that they understand the fundamental issues that restrict pupils' attendance and their ability to meet behaviour expectations. They must develop strategies that address the needs of these groups to secure better attendance and behaviour. • Leaders must ensure that all staff understand that their role in delivering the pastoral support offer to pupils helps them engage with learning and enables them to progress through the curriculum. • Leaders must continue to work with the trust to identify the key issues, develop and implement strategic plans and monitor their impact to secure sustained improvement for all pupils' experiences".

In 2025, 49% of Year 6 pupils at Gilbert Inglefield Academy reached the expected standard in reading and 31% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 72% and 66% in Central Bedfordshire and 77% and 75% across England.

Results fell from 60% in reading and 49% in maths in 2024.

Across Central Bedfordshire, 91% of families were offered their first-choice secondary school for 2026 entry, and 96% were offered one of the schools they named.

In 2026, families in Central Bedfordshire lodged 144 appeals against secondary school offers; 129 reached a hearing and 35 succeeded (27.1% of those heard).

The nearest other state secondary schools to Gilbert Inglefield Academy are Gilbert Inglefield Academy (under 0.1 miles); Vandyke Upper School (0.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 47.6); Brooklands Middle School (0.7 miles, Good); and Leighton Middle School (1.1 miles, Good).

Gilbert Inglefield Academy is run by its own single-school academy trust.

110 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Gilbert Inglefield Academy (as of April 2026): 37% would recommend the school, 50% say their child is happy there and 37% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (56%); the weakest, that pupils behave well (36%).

The nearest railway station is Leighton Buzzard Rail Station, about 1.4 miles away in a straight line.

12 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Hornbeam Close (adjacent), 110 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Gilbert Inglefield Academy stands in is among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 145 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Central Bedfordshire (47), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Gilbert Inglefield Academy issued 363 suspensions, 56.5 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 6 permanent exclusions.