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Birchwood Avenue Primary School

Primary · Hatfield · AL10 0PS

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: GoodLeadership & management: GoodSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 6 June 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

202 pupils · 96% of 210 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Community school
Age range
5–11
Gender
Mixed
Free school meals
33.7% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
40.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
23.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
6.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
Website
www.birchwoodavenue.herts.sch.uk/
URN
132105

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 35 families named it first for 27 Reception places, 1.30 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 569.4 m (≈0.35 mi); distance decided places in 4 of the 12 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2015 to 2026. Ofsted last graded it Good on 6 June 2023, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 7.3% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

1.30 first-choice applications per place

27 places offered · 35 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

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. Places by distance, last offered at 569.4 m (≈0.35 mi) for 2026 entry.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 569.4 m (≈0.35 mi)

measured in a straight line.

Cutoff by admission criterion (2026 entry)

Nearest School
565.35 m (≈0.35 mi)

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

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

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

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
38%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
0%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
103
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
99
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 school38%
Median of its 12 closest peers63.5%
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
Merton Junior SchoolBasingstoke · 50 miles awayNeeds attention46%
St Denys Primary SchoolSouthampton · 77 miles awayNo current grade41%
Broom Barns Primary SchoolStevenage · 9 miles awayGood41%
Carlton Hill Primary SchoolBRIGHTON · 65 miles awayGood74%
Howes Community Primary SchoolCoventry · 69 miles awayExpected standard61%
Beaumont Lodge Primary SchoolLeicester · 74 miles awayGood79%
Edinburgh Primary SchoolLondon · 16 miles awayGood57%
Greenfields Primary SchoolWatford · 13 miles awayExpected standard67%
Grange Community Junior SchoolFarnborough · 39 miles awayGood72%
Orchard Primary SchoolSidcup · 28 miles awayExpected standard60%
Saint Mary's Catholic Voluntary AcademyGrantham · 81 miles awayRequires improvement66%
Riverside AcademyRugby · 62 miles awayOutstanding77%

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

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 43% (Hertfordshire 58%, England 60%) · Any other White background 18% (Hertfordshire 11%, England 7%) · Black African 12% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Black African 5% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Asian Bangladeshi 4% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 2%) · Any other Mixed background 3% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 3% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 2% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 3%) · Any other Asian background 2% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Asian Indian 2% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 4%) · Asian Pakistani 2% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Not recorded 2% (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)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
7.3%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
21.2%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

19.51 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
20.9
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

79% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 21% moved to another state school

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)

50% of teachers took sickness absence, 4.4 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 £45,493; 14.3% 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£8,313
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 76% (76%) · premises 6% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 10% (8%) · supplies and services 8% (9%) · educational supplies 5% (4%) · bought-in professional services 2% (3%) · catering 5% (5%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve £204,742; in-year balance +£25,374

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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)
5/10around the middle for England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
6/10around the middle for England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher28.3%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications19.2%18.1%
In managerial or professional work28.1%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways16.2%18.1%
Residents in very good health48.7%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier60.5%62.3%
Social housing27.3%17.1%
Privately rented11.6%20.5%
Detached houses2%22.9%
Flats11.1%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms8.6%21.1%
Households with no car or van15.5%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01023929 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£360,000318 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£260,000–£454,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (17)£705,000
Semi-detached (72)£457,500
Terraced (113)£395,000
Flat (116)£240,000

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 (0.57 km, 2026 entry): 127 sales, median £385,000. 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
1an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
6an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
30an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
6an 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