Loreto College

Loreto College is a highly effective school with an ambitious curriculum, exceptionally strong support for pupils, and very high expectations. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make exceptional academic progress, behave well, and benefit from a calm, respectful and inclusive culture. The school's Catholic ethos and emphasis on values such as freedom, sincerity, truth, justice and joy are evident in daily life, and pupils are safe and well supported. The school excels in quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management, all judged outstanding. Sixth-form provision is good, with well-designed programmes and strong preparation for next steps, but inspectors found that routines and expectations in the sixth form do not always match those in the rest of the school, which can limit some students' achievement. Leaders have correctly identified this as a priority. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it remains part of the Loreto Education Trust. Governance is ambitious, staff feel well supported, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main area for improvement is ensuring all staff have the highest ambition for what sixth-form students can achieve.

Strengths

• Pupils, including those with SEND, make exceptional academic progress.
• The curriculum is rich, ambitious and often exceeds national expectations.
• Teaching staff have excellent subject knowledge and address misconceptions quickly.
• Reading is prioritised, and pupils who need support catch up quickly.
• Pupils with SEND are identified precisely and supported effectively.
• Behaviour and attitudes are outstanding, with calm and focused classrooms.
• Pupils are highly supportive, respectful and tolerant of difference.
• Personal development is outstanding, with a strong careers programme and wide extra-curricular offer.
• Sixth-form students take on leadership roles and act as role models.
• Leaders, including governors and trustees, have high ambition and support staff well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Routines and expectations in the sixth form do not always match those in the rest of the school.
• Some sixth-form students do not achieve as highly as they could; leaders should ensure all staff hold the highest ambition for them.

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 Loreto College attended 92.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 31.5% 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, 3.4% of pupils at Loreto College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were 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 Loreto College had 15.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.0% 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, 18.2% of pupils at Loreto College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.4% 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 Loreto College received £7,280 and spent £7,789 for each of its 930 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £934,000 (£1,004 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

What is Loreto College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Loreto College is Outstanding, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Loreto College last inspected by Ofsted?

Loreto College was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Loreto College have?

Loreto College has 952 pupils on roll.

What age range does Loreto College cover?

Loreto College for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Loreto College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 56.2, and 62% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Loreto College?

Loreto College is at Hatfield Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 3RQ.