Sauncey Wood Primary School
Pickford Hill, Harpenden, AL5 5HL
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Jamie Brewis
- SEN provision
- OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Harpenden and Berkhamsted
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 147
- URN
- 117102
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582621514
About this school
Sauncey Wood Primary School is a community primary school in Harpenden. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 147 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 31 | 30 | 29 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 55% | 40% | 59% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 6% | 7% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 87% | 73% | 79% |
| Expected standard in maths | 90% | 70% | 76% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 68% | 73% | 72% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 106.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -4.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.40 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Sauncey Wood Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Hertfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 55% | 59.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 40% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 59% | 61% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 192 |
| 2023/24 | 193 |
| 2024/25 | 169 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sauncey Wood Primary School compares
Sauncey Wood Primary School ranked 227th of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 38% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 59% | 7% | 27.8% | 147 | — |
| Manland Primary School | 91% | 2.4% | 3% | 204 | 0.5 miles |
| The Lea Primary School and Nursery | 70% | 5.5% | 10.7% | 239 | 0.7 miles |
| Crabtree Junior School | 86% | 3.7% | 0.8% | 256 | 0.8 miles |
| Crabtree Infants' School | — | 2.8% | 2.2% | 178 | 0.8 miles |
| High Beeches Primary School | 80% | 3.1% | 4.6% | 420 | 1.0 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 27.81%
- English as an additional language
- 16.6%
- Overall absence
- 6.97%
- Persistent absence
- 20.73%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Manland Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Harpenden
-
The Lea Primary School and Nursery0.7 miles
Primary · Harpenden
-
Crabtree Junior School0.8 miles
Primary · Harpenden
-
Crabtree Infants' School0.8 miles
Primary · Harpenden
-
High Beeches Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Harpenden
Other schools in Harpenden
Sauncey Wood Primary School ranks 10th of the 10 ranked primary schools in Harpenden.
- Crabtree Infants' School Primary
- Crabtree Junior School Primary
- Harpenden Academy Primary
- High Beeches Primary School Primary
- Manland Primary School Primary
- Roundwood Primary School Primary
- St Dominic Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Nicholas CofE VA Primary School Primary
- The Grove Infant and Nursery School Primary
- The Grove Junior School Primary
- The Lea Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Wood End School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Sauncey Wood Primary School teach?
- Sauncey Wood Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Harpenden.
- Who is the headteacher of Sauncey Wood Primary School?
- The headteacher of Sauncey Wood Primary School is Mr Jamie Brewis, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Sauncey Wood Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sauncey Wood Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Sauncey Wood Primary School?
- Sauncey Wood Primary School has 147 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Sauncey Wood Primary School full?
- Sauncey Wood Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 147 on roll (70%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Sauncey Wood Primary School a faith school?
- No. Sauncey Wood Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Sauncey Wood Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Sauncey Wood Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- What SEN provision does Sauncey Wood Primary School have?
- The schools register lists Sauncey Wood Primary School's special educational needs provision as: OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Sauncey Wood Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 55% in 2022/23 and 59% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Sauncey Wood Primary School rank locally?
- Sauncey Wood Primary School ranked 227th of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 38% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Sauncey Wood Primary School's absence rate?
- Sauncey Wood Primary School's overall absence rate is 7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sauncey Wood Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sauncey Wood Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.