# St Paul's Walden Primary School

URN 117144, Primary, Community school, Hertfordshire.

Bendish Lane, Hitchin, SG4 8HX.

This page states what happened. It publishes no score, no ranking and no prediction, and nothing here says whether a particular child would be offered a place.

This is information only, not advice. It may have mistakes in it, or be out of date. Check with the school and the council before you decide anything.

Figures current as of 14 September 2026.

## About the school

- Type of school: Community school, run by the council
- Ages: 4 to 11
- Boys or girls: Boys and girls
- Nursery classes: No
- Website: http://www.stpaulswalden.herts.sch.uk
- Telephone: 01438 871241
- School number (URN): 117144

From Get Information about Schools. Schools update their own entries, so these can be out of date.

## How big the school is

In 2024 this school had 105 places and 66 children on roll.

39 places were unfilled, which is 37% of the school.

In 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 the school had 82 children on roll on average, against 66 in 2024.

Its places have fallen from 119 in 2009 to 105 in 2024.

Places are the whole school added up, every year group together. That is not the number of places a school offers to new children in one year.

Source: Department for Education school capacity collection.

## Children in each year group

As counted on one day in January 2026, the most recent school census. These are children, not places.

| Year group | Children |
|---|---:|
| Reception | 11 |
| Year 1 | 11 |
| Year 2 | 9 |
| Year 3 | 11 |
| Year 4 | 11 |
| Year 5 | 12 |
| Year 6 | 9 |

**This is not a list of spare places.** Places per year group are not published, and the count is from January. Children join and leave all year.

To ask about a place during the school year, contact Hertfordshire, which handles applications made in-year. They hold the up-to-date position and this page does not.

## Who decides who gets a place

Hertfordshire sets the admission rules for this school, as it does for all its community and voluntary controlled schools.

Look for Hertfordshire's admission arrangements. An admission authority has to agree its rules every year and publish them.

Taken from the kind of school this is, as recorded by the Department for Education. The rules themselves are not reproduced here: a summary of an admission rule is not the rule, and only the admission authority's own published arrangements are binding.


## The rules used to decide who gets a place

Hertfordshire is the admission authority for this school, so it sets the rules and applies them in this order when there are more children than places.

Two things come before any of a school's own rules, at every school in England. A child whose education, health and care plan names the school must be admitted. After that, the law requires the highest priority to go to children in care and children who were previously in care.

1. Rule 1 – children looked after
2. Rule 2 – medical or social needs
3. Rule 3 – linked infant and junior schools
4. Rule 4 – siblings
5. Rule 5 – child's nearest school
6. Rule 6 – children living closest to school (distance)

Only the arrangements the admission authority publishes decide anything. This is the priority order, quoted from the council's own page, and it is not the arrangements themselves: the definitions each rule depends on are set out there in full.

This is the list Hertfordshire published when we last checked, on 16 September 2026. Admission authorities have to agree their rules afresh every year and publish them by 15 March, so check the council's own page before relying on them.

The council's own rules: https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/schools-and-education/school-admissions/primary-junior-and-middle-schools/admission-rules-primary-junior-and-middle-schools/admission-rules-primary-junior-and-middle-schools.aspx

## How to apply

Applications for a place starting in September 2027 close on 15 January 2027, the date the School Admissions Code sets for every council in England.

Councils send every offer for primary school places on the same day, 16 April 2027 or the next working day.

You apply through the council where you live, even for a school in another area. You do not apply to the school. Find your council's primary school application on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-primary-school-place

If you live in Hertfordshire, the council's own page explains how to apply there. https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/schools-and-education/school-admissions/primary-junior-and-middle-schools/primary-junior-and-middle-school-places.aspx

To ask about visiting the school, or anything else about it, contact the school. http://www.stpaulswalden.herts.sch.uk, 01438 871241.

Links and dates can change. Your council's own website has the final word.

The dates are set nationally by the School Admissions Code 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code--2). GOV.UK link checked 23 September 2026.

## How many families applied

In the 2026 intake, 11 families named this school as their first preference, and it made 11 offers.

That is 1.00 first preferences per place offered, at Reception. This describes demand. It is not a pass rate and not a prediction.

More first preferences per place. Across the 5 most recent years held, first preferences per place averaged 0.86 in 2022–2023 and 1.0 in 2025–2026.

Across Hertfordshire as a whole, 89.1% of families applying for a primary place for September 2026 were offered their first choice, and 97.8% were offered one of the three schools they named. That is a figure for the council, not for this school.

### Compared with its own past

More families than its recent average put this school first.

In 2026, 11 families put this school first. In 2021 to 2025 the average was 10 a year.

In 2026, 17 families named this school somewhere on their list. In 2021 to 2025 the average was 18 a year.

In 2026, every family who put this school first was offered a place here (11 of 11). In 2021 to 2025 it was every family, every year.

In 2026, 0 of the 11 offers went to children living outside Hertfordshire. In 2021 to 2025 the average was 0 a year.

Each figure is compared only with the same figure at this school. "About the same" means within 10 in every 100 of the average.

| Intake year | First preferences | Offers made | First preferences per place |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| 2026 | 11 | 11 | 1.00 |
| 2025 | 10 | 10 | 1.00 |
| 2024 | 12 | 12 | 1.00 |
| 2023 | 9 | 10 | 0.90 |
| 2022 | 9 | 11 | 0.82 |
| 2021 | 9 | 10 | 0.90 |
| 2020 | 13 | 13 | 1.00 |
| 2019 | 21 | 15 | 1.40 |
| 2018 | 7 | 7 | - |
| 2017 | 18 | 18 | 1.00 |
| 2016 | 17 | 17 | 1.00 |
| 2015 | 11 | 11 | 1.00 |
| 2014 | 11 | 12 | 0.92 |

## Where families put this school on their list

In 2026 this school made 11 offers, and every one of them went to a family who had named it first.

A school is not allowed to treat a family differently because of where it sat on their list. The School Admissions Code says an admission authority must not give extra priority to children whose parents rank preferred schools in a particular order.

The order is used at the end, by the council, and not by the school. Where more than one school could take a child, the council offers the one the family put highest.

Leaving the other boxes empty does not change how this school considers an application. If none of the schools a family names can offer a place, the council has to offer one at a school that has room, and that school may be further away.

Source: Department for Education, school level applications and offers, and the School Admissions Code 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code--2).

## How the last place was given out

This school was full in 3 of the 12 years we hold, 2015 to 2026.

In half of those years the furthest child admitted lived between 0.29 and 0.7 miles away. Across all of them it ran from 0.29 miles in 2016 to 1.09 miles in 2017. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In 2019, the newest year we hold, it was 0.3 miles.

In 9 of those years the school was not full, and every child who applied for a place was offered one.

One year's distance is not a boundary. It is what happened that year, and it depends on how many families applied.

In the 2026 intake this school was not full: the last place was given out on Not Nearest School, and every child in a higher rule was offered a place.

In the 2025 intake this school was not full: the last place was given out on Nearest School, and every child in a higher rule was offered a place.

In the 2024 intake this school was not full: the last place was given out on Nearest School, and every child in a higher rule was offered a place.

In the 2023 intake this school was not full: the last place was given out on Not Nearest School, and every child in a higher rule was offered a place.

In the 2022 intake this school was not full: the last place was given out on Nearest School, and every child in a higher rule was offered a place.

In the 2021 intake this school was not full: the last place was given out on Not Nearest School, and every child in a higher rule was offered a place.

In the 2020 intake this school was not full: the last place was given out on Not Nearest School, and every child in a higher rule was offered a place.

In the 2019 intake this school was full. The last place was given out on: Nearest School. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 0.3 miles away. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In the 2018 intake this school was not full: the last place was given out on Not Nearest School, and every child in a higher rule was offered a place.

In the 2017 intake this school was full. The last place was given out on: Nearest School. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 1.09 miles away. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In the 2016 intake this school was full. The last place was given out on: Nearest School. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 0.29 miles away. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In the 2015 intake this school was not full: the last place was given out on Not Nearest School, and every child in a higher rule was offered a place.

## How the places were shared out

2026 intake, reception: 11 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Siblings | 5 |
| Nearest School | 4 |
| Not Nearest School | 2 |

2025 intake, reception: 10 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Nearest School | 6 |
| Siblings | 4 |

2024 intake, reception: 12 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Nearest School | 6 |
| Siblings | 6 |

2023 intake, reception: 10 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Nearest School | 4 |
| Siblings | 3 |
| Not Nearest School | 2 |
| Non ranked allocation | 1 |

2022 intake, reception: 11 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Nearest School | 5 |
| Siblings | 4 |
| Non ranked allocation | 2 |

2021 intake, reception: 12 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Nearest School | 5 |
| Siblings | 5 |
| Not Nearest School | 2 |

2020 intake, reception: 14 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Nearest School | 7 |
| Siblings | 6 |
| Not Nearest School | 1 |

2019 intake, reception: 15 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Siblings | 12 |
| Nearest School | 3 |

2018 intake, reception: 7 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Siblings | 4 |
| Nearest School | 2 |
| Not Nearest School | 1 |

2017 intake, reception: 18 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Nearest School | 9 |
| Siblings | 8 |
| Children Looked After Or Previously Looked After | 1 |

2016 intake, reception: 17 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Siblings | 12 |
| Nearest School | 5 |

2015 intake, reception: 12 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| Nearest School | 5 |
| Siblings | 4 |
| Not Nearest School | 3 |

## Catchment area

We hold no published admission area for this school. That is not the same as an address being outside one. We cannot say either way.

## If you are refused a place

In 2026, families in Hertfordshire lodged 319 appeals about a primary school place.

155 of them were heard by a panel and 21 succeeded, which is about 14 in every 100 heard.

The other 164 did not reach a panel. Most appeals that do not are withdrawn because a place comes up first.

Reception is an infant class, and the law caps an infant class at 30 children. A panel hearing an appeal about an infant class can only agree in three situations: the place was refused by mistake, the admission rules were not applied properly, or the decision was one no reasonable council would have made. It cannot simply decide that the child should have the place.

Of the 92 infant class appeals heard in Hertfordshire in 2026, 5 succeeded.

This is a record of decisions already made. A panel hears one case at a time and decides it on what that family sets out, so these figures do not indicate what would happen in any particular appeal.

These count appeals about every school in Hertfordshire, not this school. Nobody publishes appeal figures school by school.

Source: Department for Education, admission appeals in England.

## Waiting lists

Being refused a place does not end the application. Every admission authority has to keep a waiting list until at least 31 December of the school year the child would have started, and some keep them for longer.

A waiting list is not a queue. The rules say a child cannot be given priority for having joined it earlier, or for having applied earlier. The list is put back in order against the school's own admission rules every time a child is added, so a place can move further away as well as nearer.

Councils differ on whether a refused child goes onto the list automatically. The council that sent the refusal is the only place that can say which it does.

From the School Admissions Code 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code--2), paragraph 2.15.

## Children with special educational needs

In January 2026, 4 of the 74 children here had an education, health and care plan. That is 5 in every 100. Across schools in England the middle figure is 4 in every 100.

A further 18 were on SEN support, which is help arranged by the school without a plan. That is 24 in every 100, against a middle figure of 15 in every 100 across England.

A school named in a child's education, health and care plan has to admit that child. That duty holds even when the school is full, and it sits outside the rules that decide who gets a place when there are more children than places. Which school is named is decided with the council while the plan is being written, not through the normal application.

Source: Department for Education, special educational needs in England, January 2026 census.

## Who goes to this school

In January 2026, 20 of the 74 children here were known to be eligible for free school meals. That is 27 in every 100.

More children are eligible here than at half of primary schools in England, where the middle figure is 20 in every 100.

English was not the first language for 4 in every 100 children here. Across primary schools the middle figure is 10 in every 100.

This describes the children who go to this school. It is not a measure of the school. Most children go to a school near home, so it is mostly a fact about the streets around it.

This matters when reading results. Across the 15,153 schools we hold 2024 key stage 2 results for, the fifth with the fewest eligible children averaged 70% reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. The fifth with the most averaged 48%.

Those are averages of many schools all over the country. This school's own results are further down this page exactly as published.

Source: Department for Education school census, January 2026. Free school meal eligibility is counted for every pupil on roll.

## Results

### Key stage 2: what these numbers are made of

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Across the 3 years published, this measure ran from 38% in 2023 to 71% in 2024, a difference of 33 points.

Year 6 had 9 children, so one child is worth about 11.1 percentage points and that difference is about 3 children.

Half of schools in England move by 13 points or more across the same three years.

A percentage of a group this small says more about which children happened to be in it than about the teaching.


Withheld figures are shown as a dash, never as zero. Progress measures are estimates and are published by the government with a 95% confidence interval.

Key stage 2, 2024: 71.0% reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Key stage 2, 2023: 38.0% reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Key stage 2, 2022: 45.0% reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

## Where these figures come from

- Department for Education: Get Information about Schools. School identity, type, phase, address, contact details and how it is run. https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/. Retrieved 2 September 2026.
- GOV.UK: apply for a school place. Where to find your council's primary school application. Link checked 23 September 2026. https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-primary-school-place
- Ofsted: state-funded school inspections management information. Inspection outcomes, published monthly. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/monthly-management-information-ofsteds-school-inspections-outcomes. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
- Department for Education: school-level applications and offers. Preferences and offers, 2014 to 2026 intakes. https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/primary-and-secondary-school-applications-and-offers. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
- Department for Education: school pupils and their characteristics. Children in each year group, January 2026 census. https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics
- Department for Education: school capacity. Places and pupils on roll, 2009 to 2024. https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity
- Hertfordshire: offer-day statistics. 2026-primary.pdf. https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/schools-and-education/school-admissions/research-a-school/school-admissions-previous-years-statistics.aspx. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
- Hertfordshire: admission rule breakdown. How places were shared out, 2015 to 2026 intakes. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
- Department for Education: key stage 2 attainment. Reading, writing and maths outcomes, by school. https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/key-stage-2-attainment. Retrieved 4 September 2026.
- Department for Education: school workforce in England. Teacher turnover, by school, from the School Workforce Census. https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Retrieved 4 September 2026.

"Retrieved" is the date of our copy of each source, not the year its figures describe.

## Using this information

This is information only, not advice. It may have mistakes in it, or be out of date. Check with the school and the council before you decide anything.

Full page: /school/117144/st-paul-s-walden-primary-school
Same figures as JSON: /school/117144.json