Official inspection reports and grades
Inspected 3 November 2022
School workforce census, 2025/26.
Russell Lower School's last overall grade from Ofsted was Good, on 8 November 2011. Ofsted inspected it again on 3 November 2022 without giving a new overall grade.
Apply through the council where you live by 15 January for a Reception place starting that September. Children start Reception in the September after their fourth birthday. You can usually list between 3 and 6 schools in order of preference, and offers are sent on 16 April, or the next working day.
No. Distance only counts when Russell Lower School has more applicants than places. Then its admission criteria, set by the local authority, Central Bedfordshire, decide who is offered a place first. Children in care or adopted from care come first by law. Most schools put brothers and sisters of current pupils next, then distance or a catchment area. How far away the last place went changes every year, depending on who applies.
Russell Lower School had 437 pupils aged 5 to 9 at the latest school census. Its official capacity is 450. It is a mixed school.