Downfield Primary School
Primary · Waltham Cross · EN8 8SS
Data updated
SchoolFacts estimate: Ofsted awarded no overall grade at this inspection
We show the lowest of the four areas Ofsted did judge, listed below. Why some schools have no overall grade →
Inspected 19 November 2024
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
467 pupils · 111% of 420 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Community school
- Age range
- 2–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 26.4% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 37.1% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 32.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 7.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Nursery
- Yes
- URN
- 117255
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 50 families named it first for 56 Reception places, 0.89 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2016 entry went to 1299.13 m (≈0.81 mi); distance decided places in 1 of the 12 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2015 to 2026. At its inspection on 19 November 2024 Ofsted awarded no overall grade; the lowest of the four areas it judged was Good. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 6.7% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026
0.89 first-choice applications per place56 places offered · 50 first-choice applications · roughly balanced
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. The council did not publish a cutoff distance for 2026 entry.
Admissions cutoff distance: Reception
The council did not publish a cutoff distance for 2026 entry.
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2016 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 1299.13 m (≈0.81 mi)
measured in a straight line.
Cutoff by admission criterion (2026 entry)
- Nearest School
- 647.66 m (≈0.40 mi)
Would you have got in? Check your postcode
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Waltham Cross school admissions · Hertfordshire school admissions
Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)
54 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 behind 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
Special educational needs
Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.
- Other Difficulty/Disability
- Speech, Language and Communication Needs
- Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Provision type: SEN unit.
- SEN unit
- 12 of 12 places taken full, or over capacity
Unit places come from the school census and describe the position when it was taken, not today. Confirm with the local authority before relying on them.
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 38% (Hertfordshire 58%, England 60%) · Any other White background 32% (Hertfordshire 11%, England 7%) · Any other Mixed background 7% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 3%) · Black African 5% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 5%) · Any other ethnic group 4% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 3% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Any other Asian background 2% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Any other Black background 2% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Asian Indian 1% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 4%) · Asian Pakistani 1% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 5%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 2%) · Not recorded 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · other groups together 1%
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)
3.08 suspensions per 100 pupils and 1 permanent exclusion · 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)
90% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 10% 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)
78.6% of teachers took sickness absence, 11.1 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 £51,219; 8% 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 81% (76%) · premises 5% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 7% (8%) · supplies and services 7% (9%) · educational supplies 4% (4%) · bought-in professional services 2% (3%) · catering 4% (5%)
Reserves (2025-26)
Revenue reserve £684,563; in-year balance -£70,886
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
- 19 November 2024: Good
- 15 January 2019: School remains 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 | 27.6% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 23.8% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 28.1% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 25.8% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 49.8% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 48.3% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 25.6% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 26.1% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 2.4% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 48.3% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 7.5% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 30.1% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01023300 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £415,000405 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £275,000–£475,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are dearer than three quarters of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
Inside the Reception cutoff distance (1.30 km, 2016 entry): 593 sales, median £410,000. 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
- 0an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 5an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 25an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 4an 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