William Ransom Primary School
Stuart Drive, Hitchin, SG4 9QB
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Tony Plunkett
- Constituency
- Hitchin
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 419
- URN
- 117314
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01462624777
About this school
William Ransom Primary School is a community primary school in Hitchin. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 419 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected William Ransom Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- 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 | 59 | 60 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 68% | 72% | 78% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 8% | 15% | 8% |
| Expected standard in reading | 95% | 92% | 87% |
| Expected standard in maths | 85% | 83% | 85% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 93% | 90% | 85% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 111.0 | 109.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 106.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +3.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.50 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.70 | - | - |
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 William Ransom 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 | 68% | 59.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 72% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 78% | 61% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 419 |
| 2023/24 | 422 |
| 2024/25 | 422 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How William Ransom Primary School compares
William Ransom Primary School ranked 67th of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 78% | 3.3% | 2.8% | 419 | — |
| St Andrew's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Hitchin | 68% | 3.7% | 8.5% | 234 | 0.3 miles |
| Mary Exton Primary School | 40% | 6.1% | 17.1% | 146 | 0.3 miles |
| Whitehill Junior School | 72% | 3.1% | 10.4% | 241 | 0.6 miles |
| Highbury Infant School and Nursery | — | 3.9% | 8.4% | 195 | 0.6 miles |
| Purwell Primary School | 57% | 6.7% | 36.7% | 129 | 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)
- 2.84%
- English as an additional language
- 11.4%
- Overall absence
- 3.25%
- Persistent absence
- 4.58%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Andrew's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Hitchin0.3 miles
Primary · Hitchin
-
Mary Exton Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Hitchin
-
Whitehill Junior School0.6 miles
Primary · Hitchin
-
Highbury Infant School and Nursery0.6 miles
Primary · Hitchin
-
Purwell Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Hitchin
Other schools in Hitchin
William Ransom Primary School ranks 2nd of the 22 ranked primary schools in Hitchin.
- Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School Primary
- Codicote Church of England Primary School Primary
- Graveley Primary School Primary
- Highbury Infant School and Nursery Primary
- Highover Junior Mixed and Infant School Primary
- Ickleford Primary School Primary
- Kimpton Primary School Primary
- Mary Exton Primary School Primary
- Offley Endowed Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Oughton Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Our Lady Catholic Primary School Primary
- Pirton School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does William Ransom Primary School teach?
- William Ransom Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Hitchin.
- Who is the headteacher of William Ransom Primary School?
- The headteacher of William Ransom Primary School is Mr Tony Plunkett, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has William Ransom Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected William Ransom 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 many pupils are at William Ransom Primary School?
- William Ransom Primary School has 419 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is William Ransom Primary School full?
- William Ransom Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 419 on roll (100%), 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 William Ransom Primary School a faith school?
- No. William Ransom Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does William Ransom Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records William Ransom Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have William Ransom Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 68% in 2022/23 and 78% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does William Ransom Primary School compare with other schools in Hertfordshire?
- William Ransom Primary School ranked 67th of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is William Ransom Primary School's absence rate?
- William Ransom Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are William Ransom Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, William Ransom 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.