SCHOOL PROFILE

St Mary's CofE Primary School, Northchurch

Primary Voluntary aided school URN 117424
Open
Pupils 8,834,192 Latest school census
Capacity 240 Published school capacity
Capacity used 94.2% Pupils as a share of capacity
Age range 3 – 11 Statutory age range
OFSTED

Latest ungraded inspection

10 March 2023
Latest published outcome School remains Good
SCHOOL DETAILS

About this school

School type Voluntary aided school
Phase Primary
Gender Mixed
Religious character Church of England
Local authority Hertfordshire
Trust Not applicable
Census date 15 January 2026
PUPIL PROFILE

School community

Latest published pupil characteristics for 2025/26.

2025/26
Total pupils 226 203 full-time · 23 part-time
Female pupils 120 53.1% of pupils
Male pupils 106 46.9% of pupils

Free school meals

Pupils eligible for free school meals.

9.3%
15.5 pts below England
School 9.3%
Dacorum 16.4%
East of England 19.7%
England 24.8%

English as an additional language

Pupils whose first language is not English.

5.8%
14.5 pts below England
School 5.8%
Dacorum 13.0%
East of England 16.4%
England 20.3%

Young carers

Pupils recorded as young carers.

0.4%
0.6 pts below England
School 0.4%
Dacorum 0.8%
East of England 1.7%
England 1.0%

Ethnicity

Largest recorded pupil groups.

White British
80.1%
181
Any other White background
7.1%
16
Any other Mixed background
3.1%
7
White and Asian
2.2%
5
Unclassified
1.8%
4
Any other Asian background
1.3%
3
Council, regional and national comparisons are pupil-weighted using published school census counts.
ADDITIONAL NEEDS

Special educational needs

Pupils receiving SEN support or with an education, health and care plan.

2025/26
Pupils with SEN 20.4% 46 of 226 pupils
0.5 pts below England England: 20.8%
School 20.4%
Dacorum 22.2%
East of England 19.8%
England 20.8%
SEN support 18.6% 42 pupils
England 14.8% 3.8 pts above
EHC plans 1.8% 4 pupils
England 6.0% 4.3 pts below
PRIMARY NEEDS

Most common identified needs

Pupils
No specialist assessment yet 15
Speech, language & communication 10
Social, emotional & mental health 8
Autistic spectrum disorder 4
Specific learning difficulty 4
Vision impairment 2

SEN comparisons are pupil-weighted using published 2025/26 Department for Education school-level data. Primary needs combine pupils receiving SEN support and pupils with EHC plans.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Key stage 2 outcomes

Published Department for Education results for 2024/25.

2024/25
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading, writing & maths

53.0% 7.4 pts below England
School 53.0%
Dacorum 57.4%
East of England 58.3%
England 60.4%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading

77.0%

3.2 pts above England

School 77.0%
Dacorum 73.7%
East of England 72.9%
England 73.8%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Writing

73.0%

2.7 pts above England

School 73.0%
Dacorum 66.3%
East of England 68.0%
England 70.3%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Maths

67.0%

5.0 pts below England

School 67.0%
Dacorum 69.3%
East of England 70.3%
England 72.0%
School results show the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard. Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages and are not pupil-weighted official attainment rates.
ATTENDANCE & ABSENCE

Attendance profile

Published Department for Education absence data for 2024/25. Lower absence rates are generally better.

2024/25
ABSENCE RATE

Overall absence

4.91%

Percentage of possible sessions missed.

1.31 pts lower than England
School 4.91%
Dacorum 6.27%
East of England 6.17%
England 6.22%
ABSENCE RATE

Persistent absence

8.29%

Pupils missing 10% or more of sessions.

7.53 pts lower than England
School 8.29%
Dacorum 16.01%
East of England 15.39%
England 15.82%
ABSENCE RATE

Severe absence

1.10%

Pupils missing 50% or more of sessions.

0.70 pts lower than England
School 1.10%
Dacorum 2.02%
East of England 1.83%
England 1.80%
Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages rather than pupil-weighted official absence rates.
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

School context

Comparison with open primary schools.

CAPACITY

Capacity utilisation

94.2% 6.0 pts above England
St Mary's CofE Primary School, Northchurch
94.2%
Dacorum
89.6%
East of England
87.4%
England
88.2%
Benchmarks use open schools in the same phase. Capacity utilisation is calculated from published pupil and capacity figures.
Sources: Department for Education · Get Information about Schools · Ofsted monthly management information