Ofsted: Good trending_up Places Available emoji_events #3 in Luton public Top 16% UK

River Bank Primary School

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

person Headteacher David Sansom

corporate_fareACTIVE EDUCATION ACADEMY TRUST

location_onLuton, LU3 1ES

language Visit Website phone 01582531860

verified

Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2019

groups

Students

708

school

Expected Standard

78%

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Demand Ratio

0.9x

summarize

River Bank Primary School is a Free schools primary school in Luton, serving ages 4-11. Rated Good by Ofsted. Ranks in the top 16% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

River Bank Primary School is a free schools in Luton, admitting pupils aged 4-11. It is part of ACTIVE EDUCATION ACADEMY TRUST. The school has approximately 793 pupils on roll, of whom 24% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 78% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 7% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #3 of 37 primaries in Luton and #819 of 14,159 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2019. The school's current overall rating is Good. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Good, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Good.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 0.9× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 23.6:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.0 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

78%

LA 63%

Reading85% LA 75%

Writing82% LA 71%

Maths93% LA 74%

Read SS

108

Maths SS

108

GPS SS

109

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

77%

LA 59%England 61%

Reading88% LA 72% · Eng 74%

Writing81% LA 68% · Eng 72%

Maths92% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Read SS

107

Maths SS

106

GPS SS

108

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

62%

LA 58%England 60%

Reading80% LA 70% · Eng 73%

Writing73% LA 68% · Eng 71%

Maths83% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Read SS

106

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

107

Progress (0 = national avg)

0.2

Read

LA 0.1

-1.1 to 1.4

-1.3

Write

LA 0.3

-2.5 to -0.1

-0.7

Maths

LA 0.8

-1.8 to 0.5

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Ranking History & Trajectory

National & Local Authority position based on DfE performance data · Methodology

Year	Primary Overall (Nat)	LA Rank	Attainment	Progress
2025	#819 / 14,159	#3	#2,160	#1
2024	#477 / 14,233	#1	#2,049	#1
2023	#6,436 / 13,940	#22	#6,491	#8,780

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

21 January 2025

Inspection Report

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01 October 2019

Inspection Report

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25 September 2018

Inspection Report

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06 July 2017

Inspection Report

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23 September 2016

Inspection Report

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15 January 2016

Inspection Report

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07 July 2015

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

6 Evaluations

2019-10-01

Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 2 EIF

Good

Education

Good

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Good

verified_user Safeguarding: Met Latest Ungraded: Improved significantly

2018-09-25

None Legacy

No Judgement

Education

No Judgement

2017-07-06

Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 1 Legacy

Requires improvement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Requires improvement

verified_user Safeguarding: Met

2016-09-23

None Legacy

No Judgement

Education

No Judgement

2016-01-15

None Legacy

No Judgement

Education

No Judgement

2015-07-07

None Legacy

Requires improvement

Education

Requires improvement

Leadership

Requires improvement

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.0%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.0%(0 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 769 pupils. During this period, there were 0 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.0%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	769	0	0.0%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	777	0	0.0%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	739	0	0.0%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	736	0	0.0%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	734	0	0.0%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	728	0	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	708	2	0.3%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	689	1	0.1%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	712	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	719	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	724	0	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	696	0	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	703	0	0.0%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	708	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	683	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	683	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	682	1	0.1%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	556	1	0.2%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	556	1	0.2%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	556	1	0.2%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	451	1	0.2%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	441	0	0.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	413	0	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	358	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	355	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	356	0	0.0%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Moderate Learning Difficulty 42 pupils

Speech, Language & Communication 41 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 20 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 17 pupils

Visual Impairment 4 pupils

Hearing Impairment 3 pupils

Physical Disability 3 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 3 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 1 pupils