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Hatfield Community Free School

Primary · Hatfield · AL10 8ES

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Good

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 →

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

Inspected 11 March 2025

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

406 pupils · 97% of 420 capacity

School type
Free schools
Age range
4–11
Gender
Mixed
Free school meals
24.1% of pupils
English as additional language
52.9% of pupils
SEN support
18.2% of pupils
EHC plan
2.6% of pupils
Website
www.hcfs.org.uk/
URN
138201

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.80 first-choice applications per place

46 places offered · 37 first-choice applications · usually has places

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

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

Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE. A ratio above 1.00 means more families named this school first choice than there were places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

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 (2024 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 1165.8 m (≈0.72 mi)

measurement method not stated by the council.

Cutoff distance by entry year

21
22
24

Furthest child admitted, by admission rule (2026 entry)

Distance
6111.36 m (≈3.80 mi)
Nearest School
751.23 m (≈0.47 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.

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Cutoff distances as published by the local authority. Siblings and other priority groups are offered places first; cutoffs move year to year.

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

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

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
57%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
10%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
106
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
105
England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025. “Suppressed” means the DfE withholds figures for very small cohorts.

Schools with a similar intake

Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025

This school57%
Median of its 12 closest peers62.5%
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.

The twelve below are matched on intake alone, from every state school in England, so most are not local. They are the evidence behind the comparison above, not a shortlist. For schools you could realistically apply to, see nearby schools.

SchoolOfstedResult
Edward Pauling Primary SchoolFeltham · 23 miles awayRequires improvement68%
Heathrow Primary SchoolWest Drayton · 21 miles awayGood79%
Meryfield Primary SchoolBorehamwood · 7 miles awayGood58%
New Town Primary SchoolReading · 37 miles awayGood61%
Woodside Primary SchoolCroydon · 27 miles awayGood (2019)77%
Little Mead Primary AcademyBristol · 103 miles awayNeeds attention39%
Parkhill Junior SchoolIlford · 17 miles awayGood82%
Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School, DartfordDartford · 28 miles awayGood56%
Cecil Road Primary and Nursery SchoolGravesend · 34 miles awayGood61%
Conway Primary SchoolLondon · 23 miles awayGood73%
St Anthony's Catholic Primary SchoolSlough · 23 miles awayNo current grade55%
Frizinghall Primary SchoolBradford · 156 miles awayNeeds attention64%

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one: same phase and admissions type, and as near as the data allows on size, free school meals, English as an additional language, SEN and the child poverty of the surrounding area (IDACI 2025). Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable: sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and plain geography all matter and are not in the calculation. Results: DfE performance tables, 2024/2025. How the matching works.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
4.2%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
13%
England 18.1%

Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
22.2
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

80% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 20% moved to another state school

School Workforce Census, DfE. The ratio counts full-time-equivalent qualified teachers; retention follows teachers in post one November to the next. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Spending per pupil

This school£6,234
Typical primary school£6,959

Total expenditure ÷ pupils, academy finance return (DfE Schools Financial Benchmarking, latest year). Higher spending is not a measure of quality. It often reflects greater pupil need or a smaller school. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Inspection history since 2015

Ofsted management information. Ungraded and monitoring visits do not award a new grade. How the two inspection systems work.

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
4/10more deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
5/10around the middle for England

English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG), decile of the small area the school stands in: 1 is the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. IDACI counts only children in low-income families, which is the measure closest to the intake a school is likely to draw on.

Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher33.7%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications17.1%18.1%
In managerial or professional work21.8%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways20.6%18.1%
Residents in very good health52.5%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier35.2%62.3%
Social housing39.4%17.1%
Privately rented25.4%20.5%
Detached houses5.1%22.9%
Flats21.1%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms19.1%21.1%
Households with no car or van24.3%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01023922 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,452 adults that the school stands in. These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Children travel in from further away, and for selective, faith and some other schools usually much further. Open Government Licence v3.0.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£360,000315 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£299,000–£452,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (35)£567,500
Semi-detached (75)£453,000
Terraced (121)£361,000
Flat (84)£242,500

Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Every residential sale registered with HM Land Registry within 1 km of the school (straight line) since January 2024, market sales of houses and flats only. A sale is dated by completion and registered weeks later, so the most recent months are incomplete. 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
6an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
9an urban school averages 5.8
All reported collisions
28an urban school averages 30.6
Of those, serious or fatal
5an urban school averages 6.1

Every collision reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics (STATS19). "Child pedestrians" counts casualties aged under 16 on foot; "school-run times" means weekdays 07:30–09:00 and 15:00–16:30 outside August. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe: counts rise with traffic and with how built-up an area is, which is why the comparison is with other urban schools. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Nearby schools