Verulam School

Verulam School continues to perform well, maintaining its status as a good school. The school demonstrates a strong commitment to academic achievement, providing a broad and ambitious curriculum that meets the needs and interests of its pupils. Most students feel safe, behave well, and are engaged in a variety of co-curricular activities, which contribute positively to their overall development. However, the school recognizes the need to enhance opportunities in the performing arts and is actively working towards addressing this deficiency.

Strengths

• High expectations for academic achievement
• Strong subject knowledge among teachers
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs
• Respectful working relationships between staff and pupils
• Well organized curriculum that builds pupils’ knowledge systematically
• Inclusive environment where students feel confident being themselves

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent adaptation of lessons for pupils with SEND
• Assessment methods not always effective or well-suited to all subjects
• Occasionally excessive time spent on testing inhibits teaching new knowledge
• Insufficient detailed analysis of behavioral incident records

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Verulam School attended 92.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 21.2% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 4.6% of pupils at Verulam School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Verulam School had 16.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 16.6% of pupils at Verulam School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Verulam School received £7,944 and spent £8,359 for each of its 984 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £828,000 (£842 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of Ambition Education Trust, income was £8,105 and spending £7,965 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in St Albans · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

Verulam School is part of Ambition Education Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• Alban City School St Albans
• Skyswood Primary & Nursery School St Albans
• Wheatfields Junior Mixed School St Albans
• Wheatfields Infants' and Nursery School St. Albans
• Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School St Albans
• Sandringham School St Albans
• St Albans Girls' School St Albans
• Beech Hyde Primary School and Nursery St. Albans
• The Adeyfield Academy Hemel Hempstead
• Ridgeway Academy Welwyn Garden City

What is Verulam School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Verulam School is Good, from an inspection in June 2024.

When was Verulam School last inspected by Ofsted?

Verulam School was last inspected in June 2024.

How many pupils does Verulam School have?

Verulam School has 987 pupils on roll.

What age range does Verulam School cover?

Verulam School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Verulam School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 54.4, and 64% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Verulam School?

Verulam School is at Brampton Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 4PR.