State secondary schools in Hertfordshire
80 schools · East of England · 2024/25 Department for Education figures
Hertfordshire has 80 state secondaries, 79 of them with sixth forms. 77.5% of families got their first choice last year, worse than most of England. Results run from 20.5% to 87.5% passing English and maths, a spread of 67 points, with a middle school at 52.5%, above England's 45.4%.
Of those Ofsted has graded, 17 rated Outstanding, 41 Good, 1 Requires improvement, 1 Inadequate. 20 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.
21% 88% passed English & maths no figure
Hertfordshire against England
State-funded schools, 2024/25
Getting a place
2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Hertfordshire
77.5%
Got their first choiceof those who applied
England 84%
92.4%
Got one of their threefirst, second or third
0.1%
Got no offer at allfrom any preference
18%
Appeals upheld92 of 515 heard
These are figures for Hertfordshire as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works
How much the choice matters here
Across Hertfordshire's 79 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 21% to 88%. That is a spread of 67 percentage points, wider than most councils.
The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.
Hertfordshire schools, subject by subject
The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.
mathsenglish literatureenglish languagegeographycombined sciencehistorybiologyartphysicschemistrybusiness studiesfrenchspanishcomputer sciencephysical educationdesign technologyreligious studiesfood technology
- 1 St Clement Danes School Rickmansworth · 174 entries 95%
- 2 The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College Bishop's Stortford · 133 entries 89%
- 3 The Bishop's Stortford High School Bishop's Stortford · 120 entries 88%
- 4 Parmiter's School Watford · 116 entries 88%
- 5 St Mary's Catholic School Bishop's Stortford · 153 entries 88%
- 6 Dame Alice Owen's School Potters Bar · 61 entries 87%
- 7 St George's School Harpenden · 158 entries 87%
- 8 St Albans Girls' School St Albans · 171 entries 85%
- 9 Sandringham School St Albans · 137 entries 85%
- 10 Rickmansworth School Rickmansworth · 123 entries 82%
- 11 Yavneh College Borehamwood · 89 entries 81%
- 12 Beaumont School St Albans · 130 entries 80%
- 13 Presdales School Ware · 113 entries 80%
- 14 Watford Grammar School for Girls Watford · 77 entries 78%
- 15 Hitchin Girls' School Hitchin · 119 entries 77%
- 16 Hitchin Boys' School Hitchin · 110 entries 77%
- 17 Richard Hale School Hertford · 88 entries 76%
- 18 Ashlyns School Berkhamsted · 151 entries 76%
- 19 Katherine Warington School Harpenden · 117 entries 75%
- 20 The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School Stevenage · 139 entries 75%
- 21 Loreto College St Albans · 94 entries 74%
- 22 Roundwood Park School Harpenden · 108 entries 73%
- 23 Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School St Albans · 137 entries 73%
- 24 Samuel Ryder Academy St Albans · 134 entries 72%
- 25 Kings Langley School Kings Langley · 126 entries 72%
- 26 Barclay Academy Stevenage · 86 entries 72%
- 27 Sir John Lawes School Harpenden · 74 entries 72%
- 28 Saint Michael's Catholic High School Watford · 132 entries 70%
- 29 The Broxbourne School Broxbourne · 161 entries 70%
- 30 Croxley Danes School Rickmansworth · 133 entries 69%
- 31 The Grange Academy Bushey · 157 entries 68%
- 32 Tring School Tring · 184 entries 67%
- 33 Hockerill Anglo-European College Bishop's Stortford · 50 entries 66%
- 34 Fearnhill School Letchworth · 98 entries 65%
- 35 The Knights Templar School Baldock · 140 entries 64%
- 36 Freman College Buntingford · 143 entries 64%
- 37 Queens' School Bushey · 83 entries 63%
- 38 Marriotts School Stevenage · 211 entries 63%
- 39 The Hemel Hempstead School Hemel Hempstead · 167 entries 62%
- 40 Monk's Walk School Welwyn Garden City · 153 entries 61%
- 41 Stanborough School Welwyn Garden City · 137 entries 61%
- 42 Watford Grammar School for Boys Watford · 47 entries 60%
- 43 Barnwell School Stevenage · 161 entries 59%
- 44 The Reach Free School Rickmansworth · 85 entries 59%
- 45 Simon Balle All-Through School Hertford · 83 entries 58%
- 46 The Nobel School Stevenage · 177 entries 57%
- 47 Leventhorpe Sawbridgeworth · 160 entries 57%
- 48 Verulam School St Albans · 102 entries 56%
- 49 The Chauncy School Ware · 133 entries 56%
- 50 Westfield Academy Watford · 161 entries 55%
- 51 The Priory School Hitchin · 134 entries 54%
- 52 Goffs Academy Waltham Cross · 208 entries 53%
- 53 The Thomas Alleyne Academy Stevenage · 92 entries 53%
- 54 Future Academies Watford Watford · 138 entries 53%
- 55 Saint Joan of Arc Catholic School Rickmansworth · 139 entries 53%
- 56 Chancellor's School Hatfield · 140 entries 51%
- 57 King James Academy Royston Royston · 80 entries 51%
- 58 Robert Barclay Academy Hoddesdon · 104 entries 51%
- 59 John F Kennedy Catholic School Hemel Hempstead · 113 entries 50%
- 60 Birchwood High School Bishop's Stortford · 174 entries 50%
- 61 Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School Hatfield · 75 entries 49%
- 62 St Mary's Church of England High School (VA) Waltham Cross · 157 entries 49%
- 63 Elstree Screen Arts Academy Borehamwood · 99 entries 48%
- 64 The Highfield School Letchworth Garden City · 135 entries 48%
- 65 The John Warner School Hoddesdon · 190 entries 48%
- 66 The Adeyfield Academy Hemel Hempstead · 105 entries 47%
- 67 Laureate Academy Hemel Hempstead · 102 entries 45%
- 68 Townsend Church of England School St Albans · 92 entries 45%
- 69 Goffs - Churchgate Academy Waltham Cross · 115 entries 44%
- 70 Ridgeway Academy Welwyn Garden City · 131 entries 43%
- 71 Haileybury Turnford Waltham Cross · 94 entries 41%
- 72 The Marlborough Science Academy St Albans · 162 entries 41%
- 73 Longdean School Hemel Hempstead · 139 entries 40%
- 74 Hertswood Academy Borehamwood · 175 entries 39%
- 75 Onslow St Audrey's School Hatfield · 94 entries 30%
- 76 The Astley Cooper School Hemel Hempstead · 123 entries 27%
- 77 Gracewood Academy Potters Bar · 56 entries 27%
- 78 The Sele School Hertford · 51 entries 18%
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Every school in Hertfordshire
Schools in neighbouring authorities are not in this list, because admissions run per authority. See bordering areas.
21 of 79 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.
- Ashlyns School Berkhamsted · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 71%
- Attainment 8
- 57.9
- Absence
- 18%
- Avanti Grange Secondary School Bishops Stortford · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- —
- Attainment 8
- —
- Absence
- 11%
- Barclay Academy Stevenage · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 57%
- Attainment 8
- 49.5
- Absence
- 20%
- Barnwell School Stevenage · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 37%
- Attainment 8
- 41.5
- Absence
- 29%
- Beaumont School St Albans · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 74%
- Attainment 8
- 62.6
- Absence
- 7%
- Birchwood High School Bishop's Stortford · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 42%
- Attainment 8
- 46.1
- Absence
- 25%
- Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School Hatfield · Outstanding.
- Eng & maths
- 55%
- Attainment 8
- 51.9
- Absence
- 17%
- Bushey Meads School Bushey · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 41%
- Attainment 8
- 43.6
- Absence
- 32%
- Chancellor's School Hatfield · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 47%
- Attainment 8
- 47.6
- Absence
- 22%
- Croxley Danes School Rickmansworth · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 50%
- Attainment 8
- 51.3
- Absence
- 17%
- Dame Alice Owen's School Potters Bar · Outstanding. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 88%
- Attainment 8
- 72.9
- Absence
- 7%
- Elstree Screen Arts Academy Borehamwood · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 32%
- Attainment 8
- 39.1
- Absence
- 33%
- Fearnhill School Letchworth · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 27%
- Attainment 8
- 38.9
- Absence
- 32%
- Freman College Buntingford · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 53%
- Attainment 8
- 53.1
- Absence
- 19%
- Future Academies Watford Watford · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 32%
- Attainment 8
- 39.8
- Absence
- 25%
- Goffs - Churchgate Academy Waltham Cross · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 33%
- Attainment 8
- 42.6
- Absence
- 26%
- Goffs Academy Waltham Cross · Good. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 49%
- Attainment 8
- 49.1
- Absence
- 15%
- Gracewood Academy Potters Bar · Requires improvement.
- Eng & maths
- 27%
- Attainment 8
- 36.1
- Absence
- —
- Haileybury Turnford Waltham Cross · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 37%
- Attainment 8
- 43.3
- Absence
- 21%
- Hertswood Academy Borehamwood · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 27%
- Attainment 8
- 38.3
- Absence
- 29%
- Hitchin Boys' School Hitchin · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 67%
- Attainment 8
- 57.1
- Absence
- 10%
- Hitchin Girls' School Hitchin · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 69%
- Attainment 8
- 57.8
- Absence
- 14%
- Hockerill Anglo-European College Bishop's Stortford · Good. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 73%
- Attainment 8
- 61.7
- Absence
- 12%
- John F Kennedy Catholic School Hemel Hempstead · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 55%
- Attainment 8
- 47.9
- Absence
- 15%
- Katherine Warington School Harpenden · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 60%
- Attainment 8
- 54.8
- Absence
- 16%
- King James Academy Royston Royston · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 34%
- Attainment 8
- 40.3
- Absence
- 18%
- Kings Langley School Kings Langley · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 53%
- Attainment 8
- 48.6
- Absence
- 25%
- Laureate Academy Hemel Hempstead · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 39%
- Attainment 8
- 41.7
- Absence
- 34%
- Leventhorpe Sawbridgeworth · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 47%
- Attainment 8
- 49.6
- Absence
- 19%
- Longdean School Hemel Hempstead · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 35%
- Attainment 8
- 42.4
- Absence
- 22%
- Loreto College St Albans · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 59%
- Attainment 8
- 58.3
- Absence
- 17%
- Marriotts School Stevenage · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 39%
- Attainment 8
- 42.4
- Absence
- 25%
- Monk's Walk School Welwyn Garden City · Good. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 52%
- Attainment 8
- 50.8
- Absence
- 20%
- Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School St Albans · Outstanding. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 65%
- Attainment 8
- 56.4
- Absence
- 9%
- Onslow St Audrey's School Hatfield · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 24%
- Attainment 8
- 36.6
- Absence
- 32%
- Parmiter's School Watford · Outstanding.
- Eng & maths
- 81%
- Attainment 8
- 66.5
- Absence
- 17%
- Presdales School Ware · Outstanding. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 70%
- Attainment 8
- 58.9
- Absence
- 17%
- Queens' School Bushey · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 68%
- Attainment 8
- 57.5
- Absence
- 12%
- Richard Hale School Hertford · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 66%
- Attainment 8
- 56.3
- Absence
- 12%
- Rickmansworth School Rickmansworth · Outstanding.
- Eng & maths
- 81%
- Attainment 8
- 61.2
- Absence
- 10%
- Ridgeway Academy Welwyn Garden City · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 25%
- Attainment 8
- 35.7
- Absence
- 28%
- Robert Barclay Academy Hoddesdon · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 39%
- Attainment 8
- 44.2
- Absence
- 23%
- Roundwood Park School Harpenden · Outstanding. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 67%
- Attainment 8
- 59.5
- Absence
- 14%
- Saint Joan of Arc Catholic School Rickmansworth · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 56%
- Attainment 8
- 50.6
- Absence
- 23%
- Saint Michael's Catholic High School Watford · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 50%
- Attainment 8
- 50.9
- Absence
- 17%
- Samuel Ryder Academy St Albans · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 70%
- Attainment 8
- 56.5
- Absence
- 17%
- Sandringham School St Albans · Outstanding. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 84%
- Attainment 8
- 65.1
- Absence
- 10%
- Simon Balle All-Through School Hertford · Outstanding.
- Eng & maths
- 64%
- Attainment 8
- 55.4
- Absence
- 10%
- Sir John Lawes School Harpenden · Outstanding. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 76%
- Attainment 8
- 62.8
- Absence
- 7%
- St Albans Girls' School St Albans · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 70%
- Attainment 8
- 58.8
- Absence
- 17%
- St Clement Danes School Rickmansworth · Outstanding.
- Eng & maths
- 84%
- Attainment 8
- 65.1
- Absence
- 11%
- St George's School Harpenden · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 77%
- Attainment 8
- 63.7
- Absence
- 12%
- St Mary's Catholic School Bishop's Stortford · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 66%
- Attainment 8
- 57.6
- Absence
- 15%
- St Mary's Church of England High School (VA) Waltham Cross · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 41%
- Attainment 8
- 45
- Absence
- 25%
- Stanborough School Welwyn Garden City · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 53%
- Attainment 8
- 47.9
- Absence
- 10%
- The Adeyfield Academy Hemel Hempstead · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 22%
- Attainment 8
- 35.1
- Absence
- 27%
- The Astley Cooper School Hemel Hempstead · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 27%
- Attainment 8
- 34.7
- Absence
- 36%
- The Bishop's Stortford High School Bishop's Stortford · Outstanding.
- Eng & maths
- 69%
- Attainment 8
- 60.2
- Absence
- 11%
- The Broxbourne School Broxbourne · Outstanding. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 67%
- Attainment 8
- 55.4
- Absence
- 13%
- The Chauncy School Ware · Outstanding. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 46%
- Attainment 8
- 49.5
- Absence
- 19%
- The Grange Academy Bushey · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 32%
- Attainment 8
- 41.3
- Absence
- 23%
- The Hemel Hempstead School Hemel Hempstead · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 51%
- Attainment 8
- 49.9
- Absence
- 18%
- The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College Bishop's Stortford · Outstanding. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 76%
- Attainment 8
- 63.6
- Absence
- 13%
- The Highfield School Letchworth Garden City · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 40%
- Attainment 8
- 41.7
- Absence
- 28%
- The John Warner School Hoddesdon · Inadequate.
- Eng & maths
- 33%
- Attainment 8
- 40.8
- Absence
- 28%
- The Knights Templar School Baldock · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 46%
- Attainment 8
- 48.5
- Absence
- 15%
- The Marlborough Science Academy St Albans · Good. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 36%
- Attainment 8
- 43.4
- Absence
- 25%
- The Nobel School Stevenage · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 47%
- Attainment 8
- 50.2
- Absence
- 20%
- The Priory School Hitchin · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 49%
- Attainment 8
- 48.5
- Absence
- 18%
- The Reach Free School Rickmansworth · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 35%
- Attainment 8
- 44.2
- Absence
- 28%
- The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School Stevenage · Good. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 64%
- Attainment 8
- 57.9
- Absence
- 13%
- The Sele School Hertford · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 21%
- Attainment 8
- 35.7
- Absence
- 36%
- The Thomas Alleyne Academy Stevenage · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 53%
- Attainment 8
- 48
- Absence
- 20%
- Townsend Church of England School St Albans · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 40%
- Attainment 8
- 46.7
- Absence
- 30%
- Tring School Tring · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 54%
- Attainment 8
- 50.5
- Absence
- 24%
- Verulam School St Albans · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 55%
- Attainment 8
- 52.5
- Absence
- 18%
- Watford Grammar School for Boys Watford · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 83%
- Attainment 8
- 68.9
- Absence
- 12%
- Watford Grammar School for Girls Watford · Outstanding. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 83%
- Attainment 8
- 68.2
- Absence
- 14%
- Westfield Academy Watford · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 39%
- Attainment 8
- 41.4
- Absence
- 23%
- Yavneh College Borehamwood · Good. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 75%
- Attainment 8
- 61.6
- Absence
- 11%
Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.
Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25
A levels in Hertfordshire
74 of Hertfordshire's 79 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.
Sixth form Grade AAB+
- Dame Alice Owen's School Potters Bar C 51%
- Hitchin Boys' School Hitchin C 34%
- St George's School Harpenden C 31%
- Queens' School Bushey B 30%
- Roundwood Park School Harpenden C 29%
- Simon Balle All-Through School Hertford C 28%
- Watford Grammar School for Girls Watford B- 28%
- Sir John Lawes School Harpenden B+ 28%
- St Clement Danes School Rickmansworth B+ 28%
- Monk's Walk School Welwyn Garden City C 27%
- Watford Grammar School for Boys Watford C- 27%
- Marriotts School Stevenage C 26%
- The Priory School Hitchin C+ 26%
- Sandringham School St Albans B+ 25%
- Beaumont School St Albans C+ 25%
- Parmiter's School Watford C 24%
- The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College Bishop's Stortford B- 23%
- Yavneh College Borehamwood C 23%
- The Broxbourne School Broxbourne B- 21%
- The Chauncy School Ware C+ 21%
- The Knights Templar School Baldock C+ 20%
- St Albans Girls' School St Albans C+ 19%
- Stanborough School Welwyn Garden City C 19%
- The Bishop's Stortford High School Bishop's Stortford C 18%
- Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School Hatfield C+ 18%
- The Highfield School Letchworth Garden City C+ 17%
- Gracewood Academy Potters Bar C 17%
- The Thomas Alleyne Academy Stevenage C 17%
- Freman College Buntingford C+ 16%
- Verulam School St Albans D- 15%
- The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School Stevenage C 15%
- Goffs Academy Waltham Cross C+ 14%
- Hitchin Girls' School Hitchin D+ 14%
- The Nobel School Stevenage C- 14%
- Barclay Academy Stevenage C+ 13%
- Laureate Academy Hemel Hempstead C 13%
- Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School St Albans C 13%
- The Hemel Hempstead School Hemel Hempstead C+ 13%
- Chancellor's School Hatfield B- 12%
- The Reach Free School Rickmansworth C- 12%
- Presdales School Ware B- 11%
- Richard Hale School Hertford C 11%
- Rickmansworth School Rickmansworth D+ 11%
- Tring School Tring B- 11%
- Leventhorpe Sawbridgeworth C 11%
- Birchwood High School Bishop's Stortford C 10%
- The Grange Academy Bushey C+ 10%
- Hertswood Academy Borehamwood C+ 10%
- Samuel Ryder Academy St Albans C 10%
- Saint Michael's Catholic High School Watford C 9%
- St Mary's Catholic School Bishop's Stortford C 9%
- Ashlyns School Berkhamsted B- 9%
- John F Kennedy Catholic School Hemel Hempstead C 8%
- Loreto College St Albans C+ 7%
- Townsend Church of England School St Albans C- 7%
- The Marlborough Science Academy St Albans D 7%
- Saint Joan of Arc Catholic School Rickmansworth C 6%
- Haileybury Turnford Waltham Cross C- 6%
- Bushey Meads School Bushey C- 6%
- Westfield Academy Watford C+ 5%
- Croxley Danes School Rickmansworth C- 5%
- Longdean School Hemel Hempstead C 5%
- Kings Langley School Kings Langley C 5%
- St Mary's Church of England High School (VA) Waltham Cross D 3%
- Barnwell School Stevenage C 0%
- Elstree Screen Arts Academy Borehamwood C- 0%
- Fearnhill School Letchworth C 0%
- Future Academies Watford Watford C 0%
- Onslow St Audrey's School Hatfield C- 0%
- Ridgeway Academy Welwyn Garden City C 0%
- Robert Barclay Academy Hoddesdon D 0%
- The Adeyfield Academy Hemel Hempstead D- 0%
- The John Warner School Hoddesdon C 0%
- The Astley Cooper School Hemel Hempstead D+ —
A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.
Bordering Hertfordshire
Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.
Barnet 28 schools · 63% passed English & mathsBuckinghamshire 37 schools · 59% passed English & mathsCambridgeshire 35 schools · 50% passed English & mathsCentral Bedfordshire 15 schools · 42% passed English & mathsEnfield 21 schools · 46% passed English & mathsEssex 81 schools · 43% passed English & mathsHarrow 13 schools · 54% passed English & mathsHillingdon 22 schools · 50% passed English & mathsLuton 13 schools · 42% passed English & maths
What these mean
- Attainment 8
- The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
- Grades 4 and 5
- GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
- Persistent absence
- The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
- First preference
- The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
- Spare places
- The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
- Average A-level grade
- The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.