Mark Rutherford School

State-Funded School

mark-rutherford-school-bedford-east-of-england

East of EnglandRegion

BedfordLocal Authority

BedfordConstituency

MK41 8PXPostcode

0.3

Academic Performance

Previous Ofsted

About the School

Mark Rutherford School is a state-funded secondary for pupils aged 11–18, located in Bedford, East of England.

Ofsted's most recent inspection is published as a report card rather than a single overall grade. It currently serves 1,150 pupils.

Ofsted Report Card

Inspected 11 Nov 2025 · published 11 Jan 2026

Current inspection

Safeguarding standards

Met

Evaluation areas

Inclusion
Strong standard
Curriculum and teaching
Expected standard
Achievement
Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour
Strong standard
Personal development and wellbeing
Expected standard
Post-16 provision
Needs attention
Leadership and governance
Expected standard

Previous Ofsted Rating

Subject Areas (previous framework)

Leadership &management

Good

Quality ofeducation

Requires improvement

Personaldevelopment

Requires improvement

Behaviour &attitudes

Requires improvement

Sixth formprovision

Good

Academic Performance

Well below average

Ranked against secondary schools in England · 2024-25

Attainment 8: 41.5
Grade 5+ in English & maths: 39.5%
EBacc average point score: 3.52

Ethnicity

White

71%

Asian

Black

Mixed

11%

Chinese

<1%

Any other group

<1%

Unclassified

Pupils

1,150

Total Pupils

51%Boys

49%Girls

Pupil Characteristics

Free school meals

28%

England average

27%

First language not English

12%

England average

22%

Young carers

England average

0%25%50%75%100%

DfE school census, January 2026.

Key Information

Phase: Secondary
Age range: 11 – 18
Deprivation band: Average
Total pupils: 1,150
IDACI quintile: 3 (Average)

Inspection history

2 graded inspections published by Ofsted. Ungraded and monitoring visits are not shown.

Report published					Overall
27 Jul 2023	Good	Requires improvement	Requires improvement	Requires improvement	Requires improvement
5 Dec 2012	Good	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Good

A grey dot means Ofsted did not report that judgement in the inspection of the day — the sub-judgements shown here were introduced with the 2019 framework.

Ofsted data as at 31 December 2024. A school may have been inspected since, or had an ungraded visit that does not change its grade — check Ofsted’s own record.