SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Hitchin, Hertfordshire

The Priory School

Bedford Road, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 2UR

Ofsted Good · 2022 Sixth form
School website 01462622300

Ofsted

Goodas at 5 October 2022

Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 5 October 2022.

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

48.5 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

49% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

64% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.3 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

33% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the upper half of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.05confidence interval -0.25 to 0.15

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
B-
Average points per entry
36.5

England average 32.3

A level students
122

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1221
Places
1300
How full
94% full — 1221 of 1300 places taken
Girls / boys
590 / 631
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
19%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
24%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
7%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
4%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
17%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
93%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
87%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
4%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
56%
No sustained destination
6%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
205

After sixth form

Went to university
54%

England 50%

In education, work or training
88%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
4%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
118

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
70%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
113

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 010C, 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
55%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
11%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
82%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
3%

England 17%

Households with no car
13%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
28%

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
Headteacher
Headteacher: Matt Blayney
Local authority
Hertfordshire
Ward
Hitchin Bearton
Constituency
Hitchin
URN
117499

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Hitchin Boys' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 57.1 0.8 mi
Hitchin Girls' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 57.8 1.2 mi
Fearnhill SchoolFoundation school No grade 38.9 1.8 mi
The Highfield SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 41.7 1.8 mi
Kingshott SchoolOther independent school No grade 2 mi
St Francis CollegeOther independent school No grade 2.3 mi
St Christopher SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.4 mi
The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 57.9 4.2 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
St Oscar Romero Catholic SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 55.1
Norton Hill AcademyAcademy converter No grade 50.2
Glenthorne High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 61.6
The Eastwood AcademyAcademy converter No grade 51.6
Trinity SchoolAcademy converter No grade 41.4
The Becket SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 57.3
Etonbury AcademyAcademy converter No grade 45.5
Tewkesbury AcademyAcademy converter No grade 43.1

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.