The Grove Junior School
Dark Lane, Harpenden, AL5 1QB
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Miss Lorna Urquhart
- Constituency
- Harpenden and Berkhamsted
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 360
- Pupils on roll
- 350
- URN
- 117258
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582760031
About this school
The Grove Junior School is a community primary school in Harpenden. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 350 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 8 December 2022, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 91 | 91 | 88 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 74% | 77% | 82% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 12% | 15% | 19% |
| Expected standard in reading | 89% | 89% | 91% |
| Expected standard in maths | 89% | 89% | 86% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 88% | 89% | 83% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 109.0 | 109.0 | 110.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 108.0 | 107.0 | 109.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.80 | - | - |
| 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 The Grove Junior 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 | 74% | 59.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 77% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 82% | 61% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 2.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 357 |
| 2023/24 | 359 |
| 2024/25 | 355 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Grove Junior School compares
The Grove Junior School ranked 32nd of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 90% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 98% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 82% | 2.9% | 9% | 350 | — |
| The Grove Infant and Nursery School | — | 3.6% | 3.1% | 243 | 0.0 miles |
| High Beeches Primary School | 80% | 3.1% | 4.6% | 420 | 0.4 miles |
| Crabtree Infants' School | — | 2.8% | 2.2% | 178 | 0.5 miles |
| Crabtree Junior School | 86% | 3.7% | 0.8% | 256 | 0.5 miles |
| St Dominic Catholic Primary School | — | — | — | 232 | 0.6 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)
- 9.01%
- English as an additional language
- 12.1%
- Overall absence
- 2.9%
- Persistent absence
- 4.88%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Grove Infant and Nursery School0.0 miles
Primary · Harpenden
-
High Beeches Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Harpenden
-
Crabtree Infants' School0.5 miles
Primary · Harpenden
-
Crabtree Junior School0.5 miles
Primary · Harpenden
-
St Dominic Catholic Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Harpenden
Other schools in Harpenden
The Grove Junior School ranks 4th 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
- Sauncey Wood Primary School Primary
- St Dominic Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Nicholas CofE VA Primary School Primary
- The Grove Infant and Nursery School Primary
- The Lea Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Wood End School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Grove Junior School teach?
- The Grove Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Harpenden.
- Who is the headteacher of The Grove Junior School?
- The headteacher of The Grove Junior School is Miss Lorna Urquhart, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Grove Junior School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Grove Junior 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 The Grove Junior School?
- The Grove Junior School has 350 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is The Grove Junior School full?
- The Grove Junior School has capacity for 360 pupils and 350 on roll (97%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Grove Junior School a faith school?
- No. The Grove Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does The Grove Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records The Grove Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- How have The Grove Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 74% in 2022/23 and 82% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Grove Junior School rank locally?
- The Grove Junior School ranked 32nd of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 90% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 98% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Grove Junior School's absence rate?
- The Grove Junior School's overall absence rate is 2.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Grove Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Grove Junior 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.