Watford Grammar School for Girls
Secondary · Academy converter · Girls · Hertfordshire
Lady's Close, Watford, WD18 0AE
96
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Outstanding
Graded 05/03/2024
Application demand
48%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
93.3%
19.2% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,427
Capacity used
Nearly full98%
1,450 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
48%
1st preference success rate
164 of 340 families who put it first got an offer
208
Places offered
849
Total applications
4.1
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 340 | 164 | ● 48% |
| 2nd preference | 210 | 29 | ● 14% |
| 3rd preference | 164 | 12 | ● 7% |
| 4th preference | 135 | 3 | ● 2% |
| Total | 849 | 208 | 24% |
1st preference success by year
Hertfordshire lets families list 4 preferences. 203 applications came from outside the council area (42 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–19
- Gender
- Girls
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Chris Wilshaw
- Address
- Lady's Close, Watford, WD18 0AE
- Phone
- 01923223403
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Ward / constituency
- Central · Watford
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 136289
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 7% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 32% | — | — |
| SEN support | 4% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: WATFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
1,427 pupils · 1,450 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
05 March 2024
Full graded inspection
Outstanding overall effectivenessSixth form Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Quality of education Outstanding Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,059 pupils
Attendance
93.3%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
6.7%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
19.2%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
1.5%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
0.5%
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
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 66.9 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.74 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 81% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 92% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 6.26 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 40.04 | — | — |
Average grade: B (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 68.2 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 83.2% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 91.3% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 75.5% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 6.38 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 208 | — |
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.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 39.47 | 35 |
| Average grade | B | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 27.9% | 17% |
| A-level students | 204 | — |
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+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 208 | 60% | 86% | 92% | |
| English Language | 208 | 57% | 86% | 94% | |
| English Literature | 206 | 59% | 87% | 93% | |
| Biology | 131 | 79% | 99% | 100% | |
| Physics | 131 | 84% | 99% | 100% | |
| Chemistry | 131 | 79% | 100% | 100% | |
| Religious Studies | 122 | 64% | 89% | 93% | |
| History | 116 | 69% | 82% | 91% | |
| Art and Design | 98 | 49% | 85% | 91% | |
| Geography | 77 | 64% | 84% | 88% | |
| Combined Science | 77 | 9% | 61% | 78% | |
| Spanish | 64 | 45% | 67% | 83% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 110 | 14% | 47% | 67% | |
| Chemistry | 89 | 8% | 36% | 54% | |
| Biology | 80 | 6% | 28% | 50% | |
| Psychology | 58 | 9% | 26% | 66% | |
| Economics | 49 | 20% | 49% | 90% | |
| English Literature | 32 | 6% | 44% | 81% | |
| Sociology | 27 | 7% | 37% | 63% | |
| History | 26 | 8% | 35% | 81% | |
| Computer Science | 22 | 5% | 32% | 50% | |
| Physics | 21 | 10% | 38% | 52% | |
| Geography | 19 | 16% | 58% | 79% | |
| Government and Politics | 19 | 0% | 47% | 84% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #124 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 11194: Watford Grammar School for Girls
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | 18 |
| Offers | 6 |
| Success rate | 33% |
| Accepted offers | ≤5 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 77% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 2% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 83% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Hertfordshire council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
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.