Batchwood School
Community special school · Mixed · Hertfordshire
Townsend Drive, St Albans, AL3 5RP
–
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 01/02/2022
Application demand
—
No council data
Attendance
74.8%
56.8% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
111
Capacity used
Over capacity110%
101 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Details
- Type
- Community special school
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Sixth form
- No
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Ross Whitaker
- Address
- Townsend Drive, St Albans, AL3 5RP
- Phone
- 01727868021
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Ward / constituency
- Batchwood · St Albans
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 117674
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 51% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 0% | — | — |
| SEN support | 0% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 3 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
111 pupils · 101 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 26
14 April 2026
S5 Inspection · report card
Inclusion Expected standard Achievement Expected standard Safeguarding standards Met Curriculum and teaching Needs attention Attendance and behaviour Expected standard Leadership and governance Expected standard Early years Not applicable Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard Post-16 provision Not applicable - 22
01 February 2022
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessPersonal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 111 pupils
Attendance
74.8%
Share of sessions attended · England 94.5%
Overall absence
25.1%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 5.5%
Persistent absence
56.8%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 14.6%
Severe absence
19.8%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
4.6%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 11.8 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 8.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 17.4% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 0% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 0.78 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 23 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 17 | 0% | 29% | 41% | |
| Mathematics | 12 | 0% | 17% | 42% | |
| Biology | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Physics | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Chemistry | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Art and Design | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Business | 3 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Combined Science | 3 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| English Literature | 3 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.