SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire

The Highfield School

Highfield, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, SG6 3QA

Ofsted Good · 2023 Sixth form
School website 01462620500

Ofsted

Goodas at 17 May 2023

Graded Good at its last graded inspection, on 17 May 2023.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

41.7 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

40% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

55% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.6 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

23% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the lower half 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 lower half.

Progress 8 2023/24

No Progress 8 score published for this school.

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
32.4

England average 32.3

A level students
74

Pupils

Pupils on roll
937
Places
1068
How full
88% full — 937 of 1068 places taken
Girls / boys
486 / 451
Overall absence
10%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
29%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
28%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
9%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
26%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
94%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
90%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
46%
No sustained destination
4%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
156

After sixth form

Went to university
51%

England 50%

In education, work or training
78%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
7%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
74

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

13% 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
73%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
62

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 008E, 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
56%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
8%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
84%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
3%

England 17%

Households with no car
10%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
47%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
SCHOLARS' EDUCATION TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Lucy Miles
Local authority
Hertfordshire
Ward
Letchworth South West
Constituency
North East Hertfordshire
URN
150217

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
St Francis CollegeOther independent school No grade 0.5 mi
Fearnhill SchoolFoundation school No grade 38.9 0.6 mi
St Christopher SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.7 mi
The Priory SchoolFoundation school Good 2022 48.5 1.8 mi
Hitchin Girls' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 57.8 1.9 mi
Hitchin Boys' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 57.1 2 mi
Kingshott SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.2 mi
The Knights Templar SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 48.5 2.5 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
Walthamstow School for GirlsCommunity school No grade 60
Pittville SchoolFoundation school No grade 47.5
Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, HyndburnVoluntary aided school No grade 42.7
Swakeleys School for GirlsAcademy converter Good 2022 55.9
Baylis Court SchoolAcademy converter No grade 51.7
Stanground AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 46.7
Driffield School and Sixth FormAcademy sponsor led No grade 44
Springfield SchoolAcademy converter No grade 39.8

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.
  • 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.