Holywell Primary School
Tolpits Lane, Watford, WD18 6LL
This school is closed (it closed in November 2025).
It was replaced by Willow Tree Primary School. That page has the school's current information.
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Miss Tanya Mortlock
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Watford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 240
- Pupils on roll
- 184
- URN
- 117290
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
About this school
Holywell Primary School was a community primary school in Watford. It taught children aged 3 to 11 and had 184 pupils on roll.
Ofsted did not inspect it under the current framework.
Ofsted judgement
Holywell Primary School has not been inspected by Ofsted yet.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 38 | 43 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 50% | 67% | 33% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 9% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 63% | 74% | 57% |
| Expected standard in maths | 55% | 77% | 40% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 61% | 77% | 40% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 105.0 | 100.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 107.0 | 97.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.20 | - | - |
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 Holywell 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 | 50% | 59.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 67% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 33% | 61% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 232 |
| 2023/24 | 215 |
| 2024/25 | 184 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Holywell Primary School compares
Its KS2 result was higher than 8% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 29% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 33% | 6.6% | 32.6% | 184 | — |
| Willow Tree Primary School | — | — | — | 185 | 0.0 miles |
| St Anthony's Catholic Primary School | 61% | 4.6% | 11.4% | 448 | 0.3 miles |
| Ascot Road Primary School | 75% | 7.7% | 22.7% | 391 | 0.4 miles |
| Laurance Haines School | 70% | 5.1% | 18.2% | 463 | 0.5 miles |
| Chater Infant School | — | 6.4% | 13.4% | 223 | 0.8 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)
- 32.58%
- English as an additional language
- 52.2%
- Overall absence
- 6.62%
- Persistent absence
- 14.52%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Willow Tree Primary School0.0 miles
Primary · Watford
-
St Anthony's Catholic Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Watford
-
Ascot Road Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Watford
-
Laurance Haines School0.5 miles
Primary · Watford
-
Chater Infant School0.8 miles
Primary · Watford
Other schools in Watford
- Alban Wood Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Ascot Road Primary School Primary
- Beechfield School Primary
- Bromet Primary School Primary
- Cassiobury Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Cassiobury Junior School Primary
- Central Primary School Primary
- Chater Infant School Primary
- Chater Junior School Primary
- Cherry Tree Primary School Primary
- Coates Way JMI and Nursery School Primary
- Field Junior School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Holywell Primary School teach?
- Holywell Primary School taught children aged 3 to 11. It was a primary school in Watford.
- Has Holywell Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has not inspected Holywell Primary School under its current framework, so no current judgement is shown. That is common for newer schools and is not a mark against a school.
- How many pupils are at Holywell Primary School?
- Holywell Primary School had 184 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- How have Holywell Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 50% in 2022/23 and 33% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What are Holywell Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Holywell 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 November 2025.