Samuel Ryder Academy
All-through · St Albans · AL1 5AR
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 21 April 2026 · report published 9 July 2026
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
1,577 pupils · 104% of 1,520 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Age range
- 4–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Free school meals
- 19.8% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 14.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 12.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 1.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Website
- www.samuelryderacademy.co.uk
- URN
- 138582
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 140 families named it first for 140 Year 7 places, 1.00 first choices per place. We hold 12 Year 7 admissions rounds for it, 2015 to 2026; none was decided by a published distance. At its report-card inspection on 21 April 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 6.3% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026
1.05 first-choice applications per place60 places offered · 63 first-choice applications · oversubscribed
First-choice applications per place, by entry year
Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured
Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026
1.00 first-choice applications per place140 places offered · 140 first-choice applications · roughly balanced
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: not named in the council's figures. Places by distance, last offered at 934.18 m (≈0.58 mi) for 2020 entry.
Admissions cutoff distance: Reception
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2020 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 934.18 m (≈0.58 mi)
measurement method not stated by the council.
Cutoff by admission criterion (2026 entry)
- Nearest School
- 919.01 m (≈0.57 mi)
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7
Cutoff by admission criterion (2026 entry)
- In Priority Area, Nearest School
- 4227.18 m (≈2.63 mi)
- In Priority Area, Not Nearest School
- 1239.6 m (≈0.77 mi)
Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: St Albans school admissions · Hertfordshire school admissions
Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)
60 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025
GCSE results (2024/2025)
185 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Collingwood College | 45.4 | |
| Longsands Academy | 48.5 | |
| Leventhorpe | 49.6 | |
| St Thomas More Catholic High School | 49.6 | |
| Northampton School for Girls | 54.9 | |
| St Ivo Academy | 47.1 | |
| Fairfax | 49.1 | |
| The Gilberd School | 53.4 | |
| The Howard School | 45.2 | |
| The Hazeley Academy | 45.4 | |
| Gunnersbury Catholic School | 63.5 | |
| Wildern School | 48.6 |
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 53% (Hertfordshire 60%, England 59%) · Any other White background 8% (Hertfordshire 9%, England 7%) · Any other Mixed background 6% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 3%) · Asian Bangladeshi 6% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 6% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 3%) · Any other Asian background 3% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 3% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Asian Pakistani 3% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 5%) · Asian Chinese 2% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 1%) · Asian Indian 2% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 4%) · Black African 2% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Not recorded 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 2%) · Any other Black background 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Black Caribbean 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)
12.18 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
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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)
92% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 1% moved to another state school · 7% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
58.5% of teachers took sickness absence, 6.7 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 £54,280; 10.2% 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 (2024-25)
Where the money went (2024-25)
Share of spending, with the median for all-through schools in brackets: Staff 77% (78%) · premises 6% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 7% (8%) · supplies and services 10% (9%) · educational supplies 8% (6%) · bought-in professional services 0% (1%) · catering 4% (4%)
Reserves (2024-25)
Revenue reserve £1,833,000; in-year balance +£638,000
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: academy finance return, 2024-25, 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
- 21 April 2026: Expected standard
- 17 May 2016: Good
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 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 39.6% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 17% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 38% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 20.6% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 50.6% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 57.9% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 33.6% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 8.5% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 13.4% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 24.2% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 23.8% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 19.3% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01023683 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £540,000242 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £441,000–£771,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
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
- 12an 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
See all primary schools in St Albans →