Hatfield Community Free School

Hatfield Community Free School is a welcoming and inclusive primary school where pupils feel safe, behave well and benefit from strong relationships with staff. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection since it was previously judged outstanding and exempt from routine inspection. Inspectors found the school performing well across all judged areas, with effective safeguarding, a broad and ambitious curriculum, strong reading provision and good support for pupils’ personal development and well-being. The school’s main areas for improvement relate to the precision and consistency of the curriculum and teaching. In some subjects, leaders have not set out clearly enough what pupils should learn and when, which can limit how well pupils build up their knowledge. Teaching is generally lively and effective, but the checking of pupils’ understanding and the adaptation of tasks for individual needs are not always consistent, meaning some pupils, including those with SEND or who are disadvantaged, do not achieve as well as they could. Strengths include the school’s caring and harmonious ethos, its phonics and reading work, the support for pupils’ social and emotional well-being, and improving attendance. Staff are positive about leadership, trustees know the school community well, and parents are generally positive about the care and support their children receive.

Strengths

• Welcoming and inclusive school community where pupils feel safe and thrive
• Pupils behave well and consistently follow the school’s simple rules
• Strong support for pupils’ social and emotional well-being
• Effective phonics teaching that helps most pupils become fluent and enthusiastic readers
• Broad and ambitious curriculum enriched by cross-curricular projects
• Early years children settle quickly and learn well together
• Effective systems for identifying pupils with SEND and providing support
• Well-planned personal development programme that promotes respect and diversity
• Robust attendance systems that are helping to improve attendance
• Positive relationships between staff and pupils create a harmonious learning environment
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Staff feel supported by leaders and trustees know the school community well

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum planning is not consistently precise across all subjects about what pupils should learn and when
• Some pupils do not build up a broad and deep enough understanding because curriculum thinking is uneven
• Teaching is not always adapted precisely enough to pupils’ individual needs
• Some pupils with SEND or who are disadvantaged do not achieve as well as they could
• Teachers’ checking of what pupils have learned is sometimes not effective, leaving gaps in understanding
• Some pupils do not gain as deep an understanding of what they have been taught

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 Hatfield Community Free School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.9% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

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, 1.4% of pupils at Hatfield Community Free School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). 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 Hatfield Community Free School had 20.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

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, 15.3% of pupils at Hatfield Community Free School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Hatfield Community Free School received £6,287 and spent £6,234 for each of its 418 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £927,000 (£2,218 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.

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All schools in Hatfield · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

What is Hatfield Community Free School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hatfield Community Free School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Hatfield Community Free School last inspected by Ofsted?

Hatfield Community Free School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Hatfield Community Free School have?

Hatfield Community Free School has 406 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hatfield Community Free School cover?

Hatfield Community Free School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Hatfield Community Free School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Hatfield Community Free School?

Hatfield Community Free School is at Briars Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 8ES.