Downfield Primary School
Downfield Road, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross, EN8 8SS
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Miss Sarah Goldsmith
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Broxbourne
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 467
- URN
- 117255
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01992629598
About this school
Downfield Primary School is a community primary school in Waltham Cross. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 467 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 | 58 | 57 | 54 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 40% | 58% | 22% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 4% |
| Expected standard in reading | 59% | 75% | 61% |
| Expected standard in maths | 76% | 82% | 57% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 67% | 84% | 76% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 106.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.40 | - | - |
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 Downfield 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 | 40% | 59.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 58% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 22% | 61% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 450 |
| 2023/24 | 466 |
| 2024/25 | 455 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Downfield Primary School compares
Downfield Primary School ranked 337th of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 5% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 22% | 7.2% | 29.8% | 467 | — |
| Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School | 69% | 6.1% | 21.1% | 198 | 0.4 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School (Wx) | 62% | 3.8% | 9.1% | 208 | 0.5 miles |
| Millbrook School | 60% | 6% | 28.6% | 160 | 0.5 miles |
| Burleigh Primary School | 61% | 4.8% | 23.9% | 410 | 0.6 miles |
| Four Swannes Primary School | 55% | 6.7% | 36% | 192 | 0.7 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 29.75%
- English as an additional language
- 37.1%
- Overall absence
- 7.17%
- Persistent absence
- 19.61%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Waltham Cross
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School (Wx)0.5 miles
Primary · Waltham Cross
-
Millbrook School0.5 miles
Primary · Waltham Cross
-
Burleigh Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Waltham Cross
-
Four Swannes Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Waltham Cross
Other schools in Waltham Cross
Downfield Primary School ranks 16th of the 16 ranked primary schools in Waltham Cross.
- Bonneygrove Primary School Primary
- Brookland Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Brookland Junior School Primary
- Burleigh Primary School Primary
- Churchfield Church of England Academy Primary
- Dewhurst St Mary CofE Primary School Primary
- Fairfields Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Flamstead End School Primary
- Four Swannes Primary School Primary
- Goffs Oak Primary & Nursery School Primary
- Holdbrook Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Downfield Primary School teach?
- Downfield Primary School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Waltham Cross.
- Who is the headteacher of Downfield Primary School?
- The headteacher of Downfield Primary School is Miss Sarah Goldsmith, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Downfield Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Downfield 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 Downfield Primary School?
- Downfield Primary School has 467 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Downfield Primary School full?
- Downfield Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 467 on roll (111%), so it is at or above 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 Downfield Primary School a faith school?
- No. Downfield Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Downfield Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Downfield Primary School as having nursery classes.
- What SEN provision does Downfield Primary School have?
- The schools register lists Downfield 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 Downfield Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 40% in 2022/23 and 22% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Downfield Primary School rank locally?
- Downfield Primary School ranked 337th of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 5% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Downfield Primary School's absence rate?
- Downfield Primary School's overall absence rate is 7.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Downfield Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Downfield 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.