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Commonswood Primary & Nursery School

Primary · WELWYN GARDEN CITY · AL7 4RU

Data updated

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Good

Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system

This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.

Quality of education: GoodBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: OutstandingLeadership & management: GoodSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 10 January 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

410 pupils · 80% of 510 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Community school
Age range
4–11
Gender
Mixed
Free school meals
12.2% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
10.9% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
15.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
1% of pupils (2024/2025)
Nursery
Yes
Website
http://www.commonswood.herts.sch.uk/
URN
117378

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 56 families named it first for 59 Reception places, 0.95 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2025 entry went to 1728.54 m (≈1.07 mi); distance decided places in 8 of the 12 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2015 to 2026. Ofsted last graded it Good on 10 January 2023, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 3.2% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.95 first-choice applications per place

59 places offered · 56 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

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 (2025 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 1728.54 m (≈1.07 mi)

measured in a straight line.

Cutoff by admission criterion (2026 entry)

Nearest School
840.29 m (≈0.52 mi)

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

51 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
65%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
12%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
109
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
107
England 105

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

This school65%
Median of its 12 closest peers65%
Hertfordshire average63.8%
England62%

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.

SchoolOfstedResult
The Radstone Primary SchoolBrackley · 45 miles awayGood58%
Robin Hood Primary SchoolWakefield · 146 miles awayGood70%
Whitkirk Primary SchoolLeeds · 149 miles awayGood58%
Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Primary SchoolSolihull · 82 miles awayGood79%
Park Hill Primary SchoolCoventry · 74 miles awayGood59%
Oundle Church of England Primary SchoolPeterborough · 50 miles awayGood68%
St John the Evangelist CofE VA Primary SchoolCarterton · 60 miles awayOutstanding65%
St Wilfrid's CofE Primary SchoolHaywards Heath · 55 miles awayNo current grade63%
Westbury-On-Trym Church of England AcademyBristol · 106 miles awayGood (2016)65%
Millbrook Junior SchoolKettering · 48 miles awayGood54%
Woodlesford Primary SchoolLeeds · 146 miles awayGood69%
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, SunderlandSunderland · 221 miles awayNo current grade95%

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 69% (Hertfordshire 58%, England 60%) · Any other Mixed background 5% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 5% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 4%) · Mixed White and Asian 4% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Any other White background 4% (Hertfordshire 11%, England 7%) · Any other Asian background 3% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 3% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Any other ethnic group 2% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 3%) · Black African 1% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 5%) · 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)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
3.2%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
5%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

2.42 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

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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

Pupils per qualified teacher
20.5
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

78% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 7% moved to another state school · 15% 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)

54.5% 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 £45,649; 15% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2025-26)

This school£6,293
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 77% (76%) · premises 5% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 10% (8%) · supplies and services 9% (9%) · educational supplies 5% (4%) · bought-in professional services 3% (3%) · catering 5% (5%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve £543,657; in-year balance +£44,730

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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

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
8/10less deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
9/10among the least deprived fifth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher40.4%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications10.2%18.1%
In managerial or professional work42.9%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways12.3%18.1%
Residents in very good health54.7%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier60.6%62.3%
Social housing32.6%17.1%
Privately rented6.8%20.5%
Detached houses10.6%22.9%
Flats34.4%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms18%21.1%
Households with no car or van12.6%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01023946 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£425,000162 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£390,000–£500,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (11)£630,000
Semi-detached (46)£479,000
Terraced (87)£422,000
Flat (18)£297,500

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 (1.73 km, 2025 entry): 541 sales, median £415,000. 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
1an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
3an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
0an 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

Nearby schools