Harpenden Academy
Primary · Harpenden · AL5 4EL
Data updated
Last grade Ofsted published, no newer grade exists
Ofsted graded this school Good in 2019. Every inspection since has been ungraded, and an ungraded inspection cannot change a grade. The most recent found “Improved significantly”. Ofsted's current data file lists only graded inspections from September 2019 onwards, so this grade has dropped out of it, but it is still the school's grade of record, and still on Ofsted's own report page. It is old, so weigh it against the more recent evidence on this page.
Inspected 6 June 2019
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
216 pupils (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Free schools
- Age range
- 4–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 5.1% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 17.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 10.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 3.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Website
- www.harpendenacademy.co.uk
- URN
- 143648
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 30 families named it first for 30 Reception places, 1.00 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 8964.75 m (≈5.57 mi); distance decided places in 1 of the 11 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2016 to 2026. The last grade Ofsted published for it is Good, from 2019. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 3% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026
1.00 first-choice applications per place30 places offered · 30 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 8964.75 m (≈5.57 mi) for 2026 entry.
Admissions cutoff distance: Reception
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 8964.75 m (≈5.57 mi)
measurement method not stated by the council.
Cutoff by admission criterion (2026 entry)
- Nearest School
- 479.02 m (≈0.30 mi)
Would you have got in? Check your postcode
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Harpenden school admissions · Hertfordshire school admissions
Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)
32 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025
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
On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is in line with 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.
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 55% (Hertfordshire 58%, England 60%) · Any other Mixed background 7% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 3%) · Any other White background 6% (Hertfordshire 11%, England 7%) · Asian Chinese 6% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Any other Asian background 4% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Asian Indian 4% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 4%) · Mixed White and Asian 4% (Hertfordshire 3%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 2% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 3%) · Black African 2% (Hertfordshire 4%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 2%) · Not recorded 2% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Asian Pakistani 1% (Hertfordshire 2%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 1%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (Hertfordshire 1%, England 2%) · 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)
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
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)
67% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 33% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, primary academies: 0.3% vacant, 0.32% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
38.5% of teachers took sickness absence, 2.4 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 £53,516; 21.4% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%
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 primary schools in brackets: Staff 76% (77%) · premises 7% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 10% (8%) · supplies and services 8% (9%) · educational supplies 6% (4%) · bought-in professional services 0% (2%) · catering 4% (5%)
Reserves (2024-25)
Revenue reserve £157,000; in-year balance +£169,000
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
Inspection history since 2015
- 4 February 2025: Improved significantly
- 6 June 2019: Good
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 8/10less deprived than most of England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 9/10among the least deprived fifth of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 58.1% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 8.6% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 54.8% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 7.3% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 53.9% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 55.7% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 12.6% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 31.7% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 18.8% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 57.2% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 18.6% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 22.7% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01023701 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £830,000372 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £435,000–£1,325,000the 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
- 6an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 33an 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