SchoolFacts.uk

St John's Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School, Lemsford

Primary · Welwyn Garden City · AL8 7TR

Data updated

⇄ Compare with another school
Good

Earlier grade, confirmed by a later ungraded inspection

Ofsted's most recent (ungraded) visit confirmed the school remains Good. Ungraded inspections do not award a new grade.

Inspected 4 May 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

102 pupils · 97% of 105 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Voluntary aided school
Age range
4–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England
Free school meals
8.8% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
10.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
13.6% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
4.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
Website
http://www.stjohns561.herts.sch.uk/
URN
117435

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 14 families named it first for 15 Reception places, 0.93 first choices per place. We hold 12 Reception admissions rounds for it, 2015 to 2026; none was decided by a published distance. An ungraded Ofsted inspection on 4 May 2023 confirmed its earlier grade, Good. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 5.2% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.93 first-choice applications per place

15 places offered · 14 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.

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

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

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

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
62%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
8%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
106
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
104
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 school62%
Median of its 12 closest peers74%
Hertfordshire average63.8%
England62%

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.

SchoolOfstedResult
Arnside National CofE SchoolCarnforth · 198 miles awayGood88%
Church Walk CofE Primary SchoolUlverston · 204 miles awayNeeds attention69%
Woolhampton C.E. Primary SchoolReading · 48 miles awayNo current grade56%
St Bartholomew's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, WiggintonTring · 18 miles awayGood60%
Crosthwaite CofE SchoolKendal · 205 miles awayOutstanding80%
Great Rollright Church of England (Aided) Primary SchoolChipping Norton · 57 miles awayGood58%
St Martin's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, FangfossYork · 152 miles awayGood86%
Nether Alderley Primary SchoolMacclesfield · 133 miles awayExpected standard75%
Seething and Mundham Primary SchoolNorwich · 86 miles awayGood56%
White Notley Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolWitham · 35 miles awayGood73%
Barton Stacey Church of England Primary SchoolWinchester · 65 miles awayGood75%
Randwick Church of England Primary SchoolStroud · 86 miles awayGood80%

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 White background 7% (Hertfordshire 11%, England 7%) · Asian Indian 6% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 4%) · Black African 4% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 5%) · Any other Mixed background 3% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 3% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Any other Black background 2% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 3%) · Asian Chinese 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Black Caribbean 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Not recorded 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 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)
5.2%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
9.5%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

0.00 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
19.3
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

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)

57.1% of teachers took sickness absence, 4.5 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 £52,842; 28.6% 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£8,211
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 78% (76%) · premises 3% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 8% (8%) · supplies and services 11% (9%) · educational supplies 6% (4%) · bought-in professional services 4% (3%) · catering 5% (5%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve £177,060; in-year balance +£32,577

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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)
9/10among the least deprived fifth of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
9/10among the least deprived fifth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher42.5%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications10.9%18.1%
In managerial or professional work44.1%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways8.6%18.1%
Residents in very good health59.8%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier74.7%62.3%
Social housing11.7%17.1%
Privately rented13.6%20.5%
Detached houses42.5%22.9%
Flats14.8%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms44.1%21.1%
Households with no car or van6.8%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01033313 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£550,00064 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£465,000–£625,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (10)£690,000
Semi-detached (20)£568,000
Terraced (29)£515,000
Flat (5)£295,000

Homes around this school are among the dearest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

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
9an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
2an 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