John F Kennedy Catholic School

John F Kennedy Catholic School is a caring and inclusive school where pupils feel safe, supported and valued. Inspectors found the school performing at the expected standard overall, with personal development and wellbeing judged as a strong standard and safeguarding standards met. Pupils benefit from a broad, ambitious curriculum, strong careers education, a wide range of enrichment activities and meaningful leadership opportunities. Behaviour is calm and respectful, bullying is rare, and pupils generally attend well. The school has recently joined All Saints Catholic Academy Trust and has experienced leadership changes, but leaders, governors and trust colleagues work closely together and have a secure understanding of the school's context. Achievement is generally secure, especially in English and mathematics, where outcomes are above national averages. Disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities make appropriate progress, although some disadvantaged pupils do not attend as well as their peers. Leaders are focused on the right priorities, including improving attendance for disadvantaged pupils, ensuring teaching adaptations are consistently embedded for pupils with additional needs, and strengthening post-16 assessment and challenge so that students achieve consistently highly. Sixth-form outcomes are broadly in line with national averages and improving, and pupils are well prepared for their next steps.

Strengths

• Strong personal development and wellbeing programme that develops reflective and empathetic young people
• Wide range of inclusive enrichment activities, clubs and leadership opportunities
• Careers education is a strength, with pupils well prepared for their next steps
• Calm and orderly school environment with rare bullying and respectful relationships
• Inclusive culture where pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are well supported
• Effective leadership, governance and trust support with a clear shared sense of purpose
• Good sixth-form pastoral support, student leadership and preparation for future destinations
• Most pupils attend well, with persistent absence below national averages
• Pupils achieve well in English and mathematics, with outcomes above national averages
• Safeguarding standards are met

Areas for Improvement

• Some disadvantaged pupils do not attend as well as they could
• Adaptations to teaching based on pupils' identified additional needs are not consistently implemented
• Post-16 assessment and challenge are not yet consistently strong, limiting outcomes
• The school is still addressing a dip in progress in 2025 and embedding curriculum and teaching improvements

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 John F Kennedy Catholic School attended 92.9% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 15.6% 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, 6.1% of pupils at John F Kennedy Catholic School 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 John F Kennedy Catholic School had 17.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.8% 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, 13.2% of pupils at John F Kennedy Catholic School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.2% 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 John F Kennedy Catholic School received £9,048 and spent £9,199 for each of its 1,079 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £591,000 (£548 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of All Saints Catholic Academy Trust, income was £8,047 and spending £8,105 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 Hemel Hempstead · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

John F Kennedy Catholic School is part of All Saints Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• St Cuthbert Mayne Voluntary Catholic Junior Academy Hemel Hempstead
• St Rose's Catholic Infant School Hemel Hempstead
• Saint Albert the Great Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Hemel Hempstead
• St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Berkhamsted
• Divine Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School Abbots Langley
• Holy Rood Catholic Primary School Watford
• St Dominic Catholic Primary School Harpenden
• St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery St Albans
• Saint Joan of Arc Catholic School Rickmansworth
• St John Fisher Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy St Albans

What is John F Kennedy Catholic School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for John F Kennedy Catholic School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was John F Kennedy Catholic School last inspected by Ofsted?

John F Kennedy Catholic School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does John F Kennedy Catholic School have?

John F Kennedy Catholic School has 1,073 pupils on roll.

What age range does John F Kennedy Catholic School cover?

John F Kennedy Catholic School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are John F Kennedy Catholic School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 51.9, and 63% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is John F Kennedy Catholic School?

John F Kennedy Catholic School is at Hollybush Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 2PH.