SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Watford, Hertfordshire

Future Academies Watford

Horseshoe Lane, Garston, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD25 7HW

Sixth form
School website 01923672964

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 29 April 2025.

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

39.8 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

32% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

55% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.7 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

65% 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 second most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the lower half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.16confidence interval -0.36 to 0.04

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
C
Average points per entry
30.3

England average 32.3

A level students
29

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1060
Places
1350
How full
79% full — 1060 of 1350 places taken, so places are likely to be available
Girls / boys
516 / 544
Overall absence
10%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
25%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
35%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
19%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
13%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
94%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
89%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
25%
No sustained destination
3%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
189

After sixth form

Went to university
58%

England 50%

In education, work or training
87%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
5%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
55

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

4% 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
69%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
48

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 Watford 001B, 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
36%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
16%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
62%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
19%

England 17%

Households with no car
16%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
30%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy sponsor led
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
FUTURE ACADEMIES
Headteacher
Principal: Sam Fox
Local authority
Hertfordshire
Ward
Woodside
Constituency
Watford
URN
135876

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Saint Michael's Catholic High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 50.9 0.3 mi
Parmiter's SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 66.5 0.4 mi
Stanborough Secondary SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.8 mi
Queens' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 57.5 2.9 mi
Abbot's Hill SchoolOther independent school No grade 3.1 mi
Watford Grammar School for BoysAcademy converter No grade 68.9 3.1 mi
Watford Grammar School for GirlsAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 68.2 3.2 mi
Kings Langley SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 48.6 3.3 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
Eastbury Community SchoolCommunity school Good 2024 44.8
St Paul's AcademyAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2023 40.4
Brompton AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 38.1
Harris Academy GreenwichAcademy sponsor led Outstanding 2022 49.9
Dixons Middleton AcademyAcademy converter Good 2024 40.3
Newman Catholic CollegeVoluntary aided school Good 2022 35.9
Risedale SchoolCommunity school No grade 29.8
Norton Canes High SchoolCommunity school Requires improvement 2024 34.8

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.