SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Watford, Hertfordshire

Westfield Academy

Tolpits Lane, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD18 6NS

Sixth form
School website 01923231560

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 5 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.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

41.4 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

39% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

54% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.8 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

66% 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

-0.03confidence interval -0.23 to 0.17

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
33.6

England average 32.3

A level students
40

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1331
Places
1600
How full
83% full — 1331 of 1600 places taken
Girls / boys
656 / 675
Overall absence
10%

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
28%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
42%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
2%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
11%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
92%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
88%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
50%
No sustained destination
6%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
160

After sixth form

Went to university
60%

England 50%

In education, work or training
81%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
6%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
104

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

5% 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
61%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
61

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 011D, 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
26%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
23%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
29%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
60%

England 17%

Households with no car
31%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
37%

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
WESTFIELD ACADEMY
Headteacher
Headteacher: Tim Body
Local authority
Hertfordshire
Ward
Holywell
Constituency
Watford
URN
140049

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Watford Grammar School for BoysAcademy converter No grade 68.9 0.5 mi
Croxley Danes SchoolFree schools No grade 51.3 0.8 mi
Watford Grammar School for GirlsAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 68.2 0.9 mi
Merchant Taylors' SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.9 mi
Rickmansworth SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 61.2 1.7 mi
The Grange AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 41.3 2 mi
Saint Joan of Arc Catholic SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 50.6 2.2 mi
Queens' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 57.5 2.2 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
Sandwell AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 49.1
Retford Oaks AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 40.1
Brixham CollegeAcademy converter No grade 36.7
The Newbridge SchoolAcademy converter No grade 41.2
Venerable Bede Church of England AcademyAcademy converter No grade 44.1
Carnforth High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 39.8
Castle View SchoolAcademy converter Requires improvement 2023 36
Frederick Bremer SchoolCommunity school Good 2024 46.7

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.