Central Primary School
Primary · Watford · WD17 2LX
Data updated
Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)
The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.
Inspected 24 February 2026 · report published 28 April 2026
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
399 pupils · 89% of 450 capacity (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Community school
- Age range
- 3–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 23.8% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 71.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 16.1% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 3.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Nursery
- Yes
- Website
- www.central.herts.sch.uk
- URN
- 117156
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 33 families named it first for 42 Reception places, 0.79 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2016 entry went to 972.74 m (≈0.60 mi); distance decided places in 2 of the 12 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2015 to 2026. At its report-card inspection on 24 February 2026, under the system Ofsted introduced in November 2025, the Achievement area was judged Expected standard. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 5.4% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026
0.79 first-choice applications per place42 places offered · 33 first-choice applications · usually has places
First-choice applications per place, by entry year
Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured
Catchment area
Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.
Admissions cutoff distance: Reception
Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2016 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 972.74 m (≈0.60 mi)
measured in a straight line.
Furthest child admitted, by admission rule (2026 entry)
- Nearest School
- 893.44 m (≈0.56 mi)
- Not Nearest School
- 1118.4 m (≈0.69 mi)
Places were not all filled that year, so these distances show how far the furthest child admitted under each rule lived, not how close you needed to be.
Would you have got in? Check your postcode
One free check a month, no account needed: your postcode against this school's cutoff history. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools you would be inside, and the address check across every school at once.
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Watford school admissions · Hertfordshire school admissions
Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)
48 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025
Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means
Schools with a similar intake
Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025
On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is in line with the schools that teach a comparable intake.
They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
Any other White background 28% (Hertfordshire 11%, England 7%) · White British 12% (Hertfordshire 58%, England 60%) · Black African 12% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 5%) · Asian Indian 10% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 4%) · Asian Pakistani 9% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 5%) · Any other Asian background 8% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 6% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 3%) · Any other Mixed background 4% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 3%) · Any other Black background 2% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Black Caribbean 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · other groups together 2%
Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures
Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)
Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)
1.22 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Hertfordshire: 2.92 suspensions and 0.02 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
85% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 10% moved to another state school · 5% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained primaries: 0.18% vacant, 0.36% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
65.2% of teachers took sickness absence, 4.3 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days
Teacher pay (November 2025)
Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £49,660; 22.7% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%
Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted
Spending per pupil (2025-26)
Where the money went (2025-26)
Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 79% (76%) · premises 5% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 8% (8%) · supplies and services 8% (9%) · educational supplies 4% (4%) · bought-in professional services 3% (3%) · catering 5% (5%)
Reserves (2025-26)
Revenue reserve £483,405; in-year balance +£25,553
Spending and reserves, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared
Inspection history since 2015
- 24 February 2026: Expected standard
- 23 May 2023: Requires improvement
- 7 November 2017: Good
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 3/10more deprived than most of England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 3/10more deprived than most of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 36.7% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 17.8% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 30.4% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 25.1% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 46.5% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 26.8% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 37.6% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 35.7% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 2.8% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 70.6% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 12.5% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 40.7% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01023860 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £373,000603 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £283,000–£465,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
Inside the Reception cutoff distance (0.97 km, 2016 entry): 567 sales, median £370,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.
Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Roads around the school
- Child pedestrian casualties
- 2an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 12an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 76an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 16an urban school averages 6.1
A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted