The Priory School
Secondary · Hitchin · SG5 2UR
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 15 September 2026 · report published 7 October 2026
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
1,221 pupils · 94% of 1,300 capacity (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Foundation school
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Free school meals
- 26.5% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 6.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 17.1% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 4% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Sixth form
- Yes
- URN
- 117499
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 94 families named it first for 127 Year 7 places, 0.74 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2020 entry went to 9898.1 m (≈6.15 mi); distance decided places in 4 of the 12 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2015 to 2026. At its report-card inspection on 15 September 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 9.4% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026
0.74 first-choice applications per place127 places offered · 94 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: defined priority area. Inside it, last place at 13327.63 m (≈8.28 mi) for 2026 entry.
Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7
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 (2020 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 9898.1 m (≈6.15 mi)
measurement method not stated by the council.
Furthest child admitted, by admission rule (2026 entry)
- In Priority Area, Distance
- 13327.63 m (≈8.28 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.
Premium shows the exact distance behind every year back to 2017.
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Hitchin school admissions · Hertfordshire school admissions
GCSE results (2024/2025)
195 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025
Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
A-level results (2024/2025)
Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means
Schools with a similar intake
Attainment 8, 2024/2025
On attainment 8, this school is ahead of 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.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Frome Community College | 42.7 | |
| Woodcote High School | 46.1 | |
| Knole Academy | 44.3 | |
| Hope Academy | 43.8 | |
| Trinity School | 46.7 | |
| Mark Rutherford School | 41.5 | |
| West Park School | 48.7 | |
| King's Academy Easthampstead Park | 42.2 | |
| Rednock School | 44.9 | |
| The Willink School | 51.9 | |
| Cowes Enterprise College, An Ormiston Academy | 42.7 | |
| Calderstones School | 46.1 |
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: Resourced provision.
- Resourced provision
- 20 of 20 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 72% (Hertfordshire 60%, England 59%) · Any other White background 4% (Hertfordshire 9%, England 7%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 4% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Any other Mixed background 3% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 3% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Asian Indian 2% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 4%) · Black African 2% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 5%) · Any other ethnic group 2% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 3%) · Not recorded 2% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 2%) · Any other Asian background 1% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Asian Pakistani 1% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 5%) · Black Caribbean 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Any other Black background 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)
8.78 suspensions per 100 pupils and 1 permanent exclusion · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Hertfordshire: 13.41 suspensions and 0.12 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)
91% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 2% moved to another state school · 7% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained secondaries: 0.22% vacant, 0.42% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
66.7% of teachers took sickness absence, 5.5 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 £51,434; 10% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%
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 secondary schools in brackets: Staff 75% (77%) · premises 6% (6%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 6% (7%) · supplies and services 13% (10%) · educational supplies 11% (6%) · bought-in professional services 1% (2%) · catering 4% (3%)
Reserves (2025-26)
Revenue reserve £306,886; in-year balance +£16,490
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
Where pupils go after GCSEs
Where students go after sixth form
Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.
Inspection history since 2015
- 4 October 2022: School remains Good
- 28 February 2017: Yes - improving (good)
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 10/10among the least deprived tenth of England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 10/10among the least deprived tenth of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 54.8% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 10.9% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 54.2% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 11.5% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 58.4% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 81.8% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 3.1% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 15.1% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 23.2% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 10.5% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 31.1% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 12.6% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01023603 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £500,000289 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £390,000–£705,000the 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.
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
- 2an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 10an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 5an 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