Primary school in St Albans, Hertfordshire
Prae Wood Primary School
King Harry Lane, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 4HZ
Ofsted
Judged to have improved significantly, on 6 November 2024.
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.
Key stage 2 results 2024/25
Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Reached the higher standard
Average reading score
Average maths score
On the headline measure this school is in the top 5% of state-funded primaries in England.
Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the top 10%.
There are no progress measures for primary schools any more. They were calculated from a key stage 1 baseline, and statutory key stage 1 tests ended in 2023, so nothing has been published since. That makes attainment the only official measure — and attainment tracks intake closely, which is why the comparison against similar schools above is the more useful of the two lines.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 446
- Places
- 459
- How full
- Nearly full — 446 of 459 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 228 / 218
- Overall absence
- 4%
- Persistently absent
- 7%
primary schools average 5.2%
primary schools average 12.8% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 4%
- English as an additional language
- 23%
- With an EHC plan
- 2%
- On SEN support
- 14%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for St Albans 014A, 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
- 57%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 7%
- Households owning their home
- 90%
- Households in social housing
- 5%
- Households with no car
- 8%
- Adults economically inactive
- 45%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Community school
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- Ages 3–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- Yes
- Boarding
- Day school
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Jenny Sheppard
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Ward
- Verulam
- Constituency
- St Albans
- URN
- 117315
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest primary schools
| School | Ofsted | Expected standard | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St AlbansVoluntary aided school | Outstanding 2024 | 81% | 0.5 mi |
| The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St AlbansVoluntary aided school | No grade | 87% | 0.7 mi |
| St Adrian Roman Catholic Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2022 | 80% | 0.8 mi |
| Killigrew Primary and Nursery SchoolCommunity school | Good 2024 | 78% | 1 mi |
| Mandeville Primary SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 75% | 1 mi |
| St Peter's SchoolCommunity school | Good 2023 | 73% | 1 mi |
| Aboyne Lodge Junior Mixed and Infant SchoolCommunity school | Good 2023 | 66% | 1.1 mi |
| Alban City SchoolFree schools | Good 2023 | 77% | 1.2 mi |
Schools with a similar intake
State-funded primary 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.
| School | Ofsted | Expected standard |
|---|---|---|
| Holy Ghost Catholic Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2024 | 86% |
| St Anselm's Catholic Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | Outstanding 2023 | 81% |
| Monken Hadley CofE Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | Outstanding 2023 | 88% |
| St Mary's Church of England Primary School, HawkshawVoluntary aided school | No grade | 64% |
| St Michael's Church of England Primary School, AlkringtonVoluntary aided school | No grade | 65% |
| Moss Hey Primary SchoolCommunity school | No grade | 81% |
| Oxspring Primary SchoolCommunity school | Good 2024 | 78% |
| Silkstone Primary SchoolCommunity school | Good 2023 | 83% |
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.
- 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.