St Mary's Church of England High School (VA)

Academy converter·Secondary school Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire·EN7 5FB
Composite score
56.2
Compare St Mary's Church of England High School (VA) with another school
#1,704
National rank
#191
In East of England
#51
In Hertfordshire
Top 54%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
45.0
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
40%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
65%
% EBacc grade 5+
19%
EBacc average points score
4.00

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes
Sixth form provision
Good

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
119 first choices, 198 places
First choices per place
0.60
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
352
any preference, for 198 places
Applications from another council area
31%
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.01
00.511.5
1 per place
0.4320220.4420230.4220240.5920250.602026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put St Mary's Church of England High School (VA) first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–19
Pupils on roll
982
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
37.6%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
30.9%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
13.9%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
2.5%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
8.3%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
26.4%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
14.6
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£9,414
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
91%
180 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
89%
Apprenticeship
0%
Employment
2%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

St Mary's Church of England High School (VA) at a glance

Located in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, St Mary's Church of England High School (VA) is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a converter academy with a Church of England religious character. The school educates roughly 982 pupils aged 11 to 19. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 45.0, broadly in line with the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 0.7 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it around the middle of secondary schools nationally.

40% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 65% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. St Mary's Church of England High School (VA) was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 119 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 91% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 8.3%. There are about 14.6 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 38% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. When comparing schools, it is still worth visiting in person to see whether the atmosphere and approach suit your child. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

Compare St Mary's Church of England High School (VA) with another school