SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Letchworth, Hertfordshire

Fearnhill School

Icknield Way West, Letchworth, Hertfordshire, SG6 4BA

Sixth form
School website 01462621200

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 21 April 2026.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

38.9 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

27% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

53% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.6 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

39% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the bottom quarter of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is middle, which is where this one sits, it is in the bottom quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.14confidence interval -0.41 to 0.13

Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
D+
Average points per entry
24.7

England average 32.3

A level students
19

Pupils

Pupils on roll
597
Places
1055
How full
57% full — 597 of 1055 places taken, so places are likely to be available
Girls / boys
296 / 301
Overall absence
11%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
31%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
39%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
11%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
4%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
12%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
94%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
87%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
35%
No sustained destination
4%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
77

After sixth form

Went to university
50%

England 50%

In education, work or training
94%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
8%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
36

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

29% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
75%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
24

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for North Hertfordshire 007B, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
27%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
20%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
34%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
52%

England 17%

Households with no car
23%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
35%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Foundation school
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
Letchworth Garden City Education Partnership
Headteacher
Headteacher: Tim Spencer
Local authority
Hertfordshire
Ward
Letchworth Wilbury
Constituency
North East Hertfordshire
URN
117504

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
The Highfield SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 41.7 0.6 mi
St Francis CollegeOther independent school No grade 0.7 mi
St Christopher SchoolOther independent school No grade 1.1 mi
The Priory SchoolFoundation school Good 2022 48.5 1.8 mi
Hitchin Girls' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 57.8 2.2 mi
Hitchin Boys' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 57.1 2.2 mi
The Knights Templar SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 48.5 2.5 mi
Kingshott SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.7 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
King Harold Business & Enterprise AcademyAcademy converter No grade 36.5
Carshalton Boys Sports CollegeAcademy converter Good 2022 45
St Dunstan's SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 45.7
Energy Coast UTCUniversity technical college Good 2023 24.2
Kents Hill Park all-through schoolFree schools Good 2022 50.2
Forest Hill SchoolCommunity school Good 2023 52.3
The Priory Ruskin AcademyAcademy sponsor led Outstanding 2024 41.4
The Hathaway AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 41.1

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.