Great Denham Primary School
Foundation school in Bedford, MK40 4GG, taking ages 3 to 11, 677 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 0.85 miles Bedford published for 2026/27, as the checker measures.
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Will an address get in?
In 2026/27, the furthest child offered a place lived 0.85 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Primary applications close 15 January 2027; offers on 16 April 2027.
How this compares: every Bedford school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 0.85 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2026/27.
Great Denham Primary School: 0.85 miles, 2026/27 Priory Primary School: 0.22 miles, 2026/27, published by Bedford
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Great Denham Primary School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.
Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.
Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary.
The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.
One published year so far: 2026/27, from Bedford. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.
Source: Bedford, published admission distances, 2026/27
Where Great Denham Primary School and Priory Primary School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Priory Primary School admitted from 0.22 miles in 2026/27, published by Bedford. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 0.85 and 0.22 miles, and the ground those circles share holds no district centre, which is a fact about where the centres fall rather than about any one address. The map above shows both, and the postcode checker answers for both.
Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.
Drop Priory Primary School and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Bedford, 32 of 133 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (24.1%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.
Other schools nearby with a published distance
The closest schools to Great Denham Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Ouse Primary Academy Both in reach | Primary | 1.19 mi 2026/27 | 1.1 mi |
| Kempston Rural Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 1.46 mi 2026/27 | 1.1 mi |
| Balliol Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.51 mi 2026/27 | 1.3 mi |
| Priory Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.22 mi 2026/27 | 1.4 mi |
| Livingstone Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.32 mi 2026/27 | 1.5 mi |
| Bedford Free School Both in reach | Secondary | 0.6 mi 2026/27 | 1.7 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 677 pupils in 650 places (104% full, over capacity) |
| Trust | The Biddenham Campus Trust |
| Local authority | Bedford |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Outstanding, inspected 02 July 2024 |
| Meeting the expected standard | 72.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25) |
| Year | Meeting the expected standard |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 72.0% |
| 2023/24 | 68.0% |
| 2022/23 | 70.0% |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Great Denham Primary School
| Girls and boys | 49.8% girls, 50.2% boys |
| English as an additional language | 18.5% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 12.9% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Getting to Great Denham Primary School by bus
Best-served stop: Northern Square, 117 yd away, with 1.0 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 05:58, last 22:58.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Square | 117 yd | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8 |
| Northern Square | 124 yd | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8 |
| Sauton Close | 0.2 mi | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 8 |
These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.
Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing Great Denham Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around MK40: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at MK40 4GG, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for Great Denham Primary School?
Great Denham Primary School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in 2026/27 lived 0.85 miles away, per Bedford.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Great Denham Primary School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 0.85 miles was enough in 2026/27, and at 104% full the school has little slack. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.
Does buying a house near Great Denham Primary School guarantee a place?
No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.
Every Bedford school's distance
All Bedford schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
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Admission distance published by Bedford. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.