# The Highfield School

URN 150217, Secondary, Academy converter, Hertfordshire.

Highfield, Letchworth Garden City, SG6 3QA.

This school became an academy on 1 January 2024. Before that it was a foundation school, under its earlier school number, URN 117537.

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 It may have mistakes in it, or be out of date.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: Academy
- Academy trust: Scholars' Education Trust
- Became an academy: 1 January 2024. Before that it was a foundation school, under its earlier school number, URN 117537.
- Ages: 11 to 18
- Boys or girls: Boys and girls
- Sixth form: Yes
- Website: http://www.highfield.herts.sch.uk
- Telephone: 01462 620500
- School number (URN): 150217

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 Schools update their own entries, so these can be out of date.

Scholars' Education Trust runs 10 other schools with a page here. Nearest first:

- Buntingford First School, Buntingford, 10.2 miles away: /school/149748/buntingford-first-school
- Sir John Lawes School, Harpenden, 11.0 miles away: /school/137270/sir-john-lawes-school
- Harpenden Academy, Harpenden, 11.6 miles away: /school/143648/harpenden-academy
- Watling Lower School, Dunstable, 13.3 miles away: /school/151796/watling-lower-school
- Dunstable Icknield Lower School, Dunstable, 13.5 miles away: /school/151210/dunstable-icknield-lower-school
- Samuel Ryder Academy, St Albans, 16.2 miles away: /school/138582/samuel-ryder-academy
- Robert Barclay Academy, Hoddesdon, 17.7 miles away: /school/143131/robert-barclay-academy
- Longdean School, Hemel Hempstead, 17.9 miles away: /school/137110/longdean-school
- The Hemel Hempstead School, Hemel Hempstead, 18.3 miles away: /school/149500/the-hemel-hempstead-school
- Nazeing Primary School, Waltham Abbey, 19.6 miles away: /school/151971/nazeing-primary-school

## How big the school is

In 2024 this school had 1,118 places and 964 children on roll.

154 places were unfilled, which is 14% of the school.

In 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 the school had 972 children on roll on average, against 964 in 2024. Some of those years are from its record under an earlier school number.

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 |
|---|---:|
| Year 7 | 177 |
| Year 8 | 165 |
| Year 9 | 171 |
| Year 10 | 155 |
| Year 11 | 162 |
| Year 12 | 59 |
| Year 13 | 48 |

**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

This school sets its own admission rules, through its academy trust, rather than Hertfordshire setting them.

Look on the school's own website for its admission arrangements. An admission authority has to agree its rules every year and publish them. The council still takes the application.

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.

## How to apply

Applications for a place starting in September 2027 closed on 31 October 2026, unless your council set a later date.

That is a Saturday, and some councils accept applications until the next working day. Your council's website gives its own closing date.

Councils send every offer for secondary school places on the same day, 1 March 2027 or the next working day.

An application made after the closing date is what the rules call a late application. It is still a normal application and the council still handles it, but it is dealt with after the ones that arrived on time, so it does not get an answer on the day above.

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 secondary school application on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-secondary-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/secondary-and-upper-schools/secondary-and-upper-school-places.aspx

To ask about visiting the school, or anything else about it, contact the school. http://www.highfield.herts.sch.uk, 01462 620500.

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, 121 families named this school as their first preference, and it made 130 offers.

That is 0.93 first preferences per place offered, at Year 7. This describes demand. It is not a pass rate and not a prediction.

More first preferences per place. Across the 3 most recent years held, first preferences per place averaged 0.8 in 2024 and 0.93 in 2026.

First preferences for this school fell 19%, from 157 a year in 2022–2023 to 126 in 2025–2026. Across all 78 schools in Hertfordshire admitting at Year 7, first preferences changed little over the same years, from 15,120 to 14,743. The school also offered fewer places over these years, 174 a year in 2022–2023 and 150 in 2025–2026, which is why the figure per place can move the other way from the count of families.

Across Hertfordshire as a whole, 77.5% of families applying for a secondary place for September 2026 were offered their first choice, and 92.4% 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

Fewer families than its recent average put this school first.

In 2026, 121 families put this school first. In 2021 to 2025 the average was 148 a year.

In 2026, 388 families named this school somewhere on their list. In 2021 to 2025 the average was 527 a year.

In 2026, every family who put this school first was offered a place here (121 of 121). In 2021 to 2025 it was 97 in every 100.

In 2026, 3 of the 130 offers went to children living outside Hertfordshire. In 2021 to 2025 the average was 1 a year.

Some of the earlier years are from this school's record under its old school number.

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

Figures before 2024 are from this school's earlier record, under its old school number (URN 117537), before it became an academy. The government's school register links the two, and they are the same school.

| Intake year | First preferences | Offers made | First preferences per place |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| 2026 | 121 | 130 | 0.93 |
| 2025 | 132 | 170 | 0.78 |
| 2024 | 136 | 170 | 0.80 |
| 2023 (old school number) | 157 | 176 | 0.89 |
| 2022 (old school number) | 157 | 172 | 0.91 |
| 2021 (old school number) | 158 | 176 | 0.90 |
| 2020 (old school number) | 162 | 174 | 0.93 |
| 2019 (old school number) | 157 | 174 | 0.90 |
| 2018 (old school number) | 159 | 174 | 0.91 |
| 2017 (old school number) | 132 | 163 | 0.81 |
| 2016 (old school number) | 175 | 177 | 0.99 |
| 2015 (old school number) | 182 | 178 | 1.02 |
| 2014 (old school number) | 204 | 174 | 1.17 |

## Where families put this school on their list

In 2026 this school made 130 offers: 121 to families who had named it first and 5 to families who named it second.

4 offers went to families who named it fourth or lower, or who were admitted another way.

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 10 of the 11 years we hold, 2015 to 2025.

In half of those years the furthest child admitted lived between 1.8 and 2.07 miles away. Across all of them it ran from 1.54 miles in 2016 to 5.55 miles in 2025. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In 2025, the newest year we hold, it was 5.55 miles.

In 1 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 2025 intake this school was full. The last place was given out on: Outside Priority Area, Distance. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 5.55 miles away. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In the 2024 intake this school was full. The last place was given out on: In Priority Area, Distance. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 2.07 miles away. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In the 2023 intake this school was full. The last place was given out on: In Priority Area, Distance. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 1.93 miles away. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In the 2022 intake this school was full. The last place was given out on: Outside Priority Area, Distance. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 3.84 miles away. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In the 2021 intake this school was full. The last place was given out on: In Priority Area, Not Nearest School. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 1.8 miles away. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In the 2020 intake this school was full. The last place was given out on: In Priority Area, Not Nearest School. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 1.95 miles away. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In the 2019 intake this school was full. The last place was given out on: In Priority Area, Not Nearest School. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 1.77 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 full. The last place was given out on: In Priority Area, Not Nearest School. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 1.85 miles away. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.

In the 2017 intake this school was not full: the last place was given out on In Priority Area, Not Nearest School, and every child in a higher rule was offered a place.

In the 2016 intake this school was full. The last place was given out on: In Priority Area, Nearest School. The child who lived furthest away and still got in was 1.54 miles away. The council does not say whether it measured in a straight line or along a route.


## How the places were shared out

2025 intake, year_7: 184 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 | 67 |
| In Priority Area, Distance | 51 |
| Nearest School | 51 |
| Education, Health & Care (EHC) Plan | 8 |
| Outside Priority Area, Distance | 5 |
| Children Looked After Or Previously Looked After | 2 |

2024 intake, year_7: 180 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 | 60 |
| In Priority Area, Distance | 58 |
| Nearest School | 46 |
| Education, Health & Care (EHC) Plan | 8 |
| Outside Priority Area, Distance | 8 |

2023 intake, year_7: 180 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| In Priority Area, Distance | 66 |
| Siblings | 58 |
| Nearest School | 51 |
| Education, Health & Care (EHC) Plan | 4 |
| Children Looked After Or Previously Looked After | 1 |

2022 intake, year_7: 180 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| In Priority Area, Distance | 66 |
| Siblings | 62 |
| Nearest School | 36 |
| Outside Priority Area, Distance | 9 |
| Children Looked After Or Previously Looked After | 4 |
| Non ranked allocation | 2 |
| Education, Health & Care (EHC) Plan | 1 |

2021 intake, year_7: 180 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| In Priority Area, Not Nearest School | 67 |
| Siblings | 62 |
| Nearest School | 45 |
| SEN (Special Educational Needs) | 4 |
| Children Looked After Or Previously Looked After | 2 |

2020 intake, year_7: 180 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| In Priority Area, Not Nearest School | 68 |
| Siblings | 58 |
| Nearest School | 47 |
| SEN (Special Educational Needs) | 6 |
| Children Looked After Or Previously Looked After | 1 |

2019 intake, year_7: 180 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| In Priority Area, Not Nearest School | 70 |
| Nearest School | 56 |
| Siblings | 48 |
| SEN (Special Educational Needs) | 5 |
| Children Looked After Or Previously Looked After | 1 |

2018 intake, year_7: 180 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 | 60 |
| Siblings | 60 |
| In Priority Area, Not Nearest School | 52 |
| SEN (Special Educational Needs) | 6 |
| Children Looked After Or Previously Looked After | 1 |
| Medical/Social | 1 |

2017 intake, year_7: 176 children accounted for. These are the council's own names for its rules and cannot be compared with another council's.

| Rule | Children admitted |
|---|---:|
| In Priority Area, Not Nearest School | 60 |
| Siblings | 48 |
| In Priority Area, Nearest School | 38 |
| Outside Priority Area, Distance | 17 |
| Non Ranked Allocation | 6 |
| Children Looked After Or Previously Looked After | 3 |
| SEN (Special Educational Needs) | 3 |
| Medical/Social | 1 |

2016 intake, year_7: 180 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 | 79 |
| In Priority Area, Not Nearest School | 53 |
| In Priority Area, Nearest School | 43 |
| SEN (Special Educational Needs) | 3 |
| Children Looked After Or Previously Looked After | 1 |
| Medical/Social | 1 |

## 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 722 appeals about a secondary school place.

515 of them were heard by a panel and 92 succeeded, which is about 18 in every 100 heard.

The other 207 did not reach a panel. Most appeals that do not are withdrawn because a place comes up first.

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, 48 of the 937 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 222 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, 233 of the 937 children here were known to be eligible for free school meals. That is 25 in every 100.

That is close to the middle for secondary schools in England, which is 27 in every 100.

English was not the first language for 9 in every 100 children here. Across secondary schools the middle figure is 12 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 3,610 schools we hold 2024 key stage 4 results for, the fifth with the fewest eligible children averaged 81% getting grade 4 or above in English and maths. The fifth with the most averaged 35%.

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

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 4, 2024: Attainment 8 41.70, Progress 8 not published.

## 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 secondary school application. Link checked 23 September 2026. https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-secondary-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. 2025-secondary.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, 2016 to 2025 intakes. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
- Department for Education: key stage 4 performance. Attainment 8, Progress 8 and EBacc, by school. https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/key-stage-4-performance. 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/150217/the-highfield-school
Same figures as JSON: /school/150217.json