The Sele School

The Sele School is a welcoming, nurturing and inclusive secondary school where pupils feel valued and happy. Inspectors found that the school has improved since its previous inspection and is now effective across education, behaviour, personal development, leadership and sixth form. Pupils benefit from high expectations, a broadened curriculum and increasingly consistent teaching, and they behave well in calm and orderly classrooms. The school has strengthened its provision for pupils with SEND and identifies and supports pupils who struggle with reading promptly and well. The wider offer is a notable strength: pupils speak highly of the electives programme, feel safe and secure, and are well prepared for next steps. The sixth form provides individualised support and helps students progress confidently, while staff report confidence in leadership and manageable workload. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school operates as a single academy trust and has received active support from the trust, although there are vacancies on the board of trustees. The main concerns are persistent absence, which remains high and prevents some pupils from learning as well as they should, and teaching that does not always move pupils on to more complex work as soon as they are ready. Trustee vacancies also limit the board’s expertise and capacity for strategic planning. Leaders have made helpful changes to attendance and are working to address these areas.

Strengths

• Welcoming, nurturing and inclusive culture where pupils feel valued and happy
• High expectations for all pupils and improving achievement in many areas
• Thoughtfully constructed and broadened curriculum, including the addition of French
• Pupils with SEND access the full curriculum and most learn well with appropriate support
• Timely and well-considered reading interventions for pupils who need extra help
• Pupils behave well, are respectful and have strong trusting relationships with teachers
• Calm and orderly classrooms that support effective learning
• Wide electives offer that broadens pupils' horizons and develops skills beyond the curriculum
• Effective pastoral systems that support pupils with different needs and backgrounds
• Pupils learn how to stay safe and well and are prepared for their next steps
• Sixth-form students receive individualised support and are well guided for education and employment
• Sixth-form students work with younger pupils through reading and mentoring activities
• Staff have confidence in leadership, and their well-being and workload are supported
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Persistent absence is high, so some pupils miss important learning and achieve less well
• Teachers do not consistently move pupils on to more complex learning as soon as they are ready
• Vacancies on the board of trustees limit expertise and capacity for strategic planning

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 The Sele School attended 87.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 41.1% 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, 18.7% of pupils at The Sele School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 The Sele School had 17.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.8% 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, 24.3% of pupils at The Sele School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 8.1% 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 The Sele School received £10,747 and spent £10,063 for each of its 396 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,173,000 (£2,962 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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What is The Sele School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Sele School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was The Sele School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Sele School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does The Sele School have?

The Sele School has 382 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Sele School cover?

The Sele School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are The Sele School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 35.1, and 28% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Sele School?

The Sele School is at Welwyn Road, Hertford, Hertfordshire, SG14 2DG.