The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans
Grove Road, St Albans, AL1 1DQ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Mrs Linda O'Melia
- Diocese
- Diocese of St Albans
- Constituency
- St Albans
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 189
- URN
- 117449
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01727851802
About this school
The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans is a Church of England voluntary aided primary school in St Albans. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 189 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans, 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. 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
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found the school has improved significantly.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 21 | 29 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 86% | 90% | 87% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 33% | 17% | 20% |
| Expected standard in reading | 100% | 93% | 90% |
| Expected standard in maths | 95% | 93% | 87% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 100% | 90% | 87% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 110.0 | 110.0 | 111.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 111.0 | 107.0 | 109.0 |
| Reading progress | +3.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +5.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +3.40 | - | - |
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 Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans 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 | 86% | 59.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 90% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 87% | 61% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 174 |
| 2023/24 | 165 |
| 2024/25 | 177 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans compares
The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans ranked 15th of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 95% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 85% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 87% | 3.9% | 4% | 189 | — |
| St Peter's School | 73% | 3.4% | 6.1% | 392 | 0.3 miles |
| Aboyne Lodge Junior Mixed and Infant School | 66% | 4.8% | 11.7% | 198 | 0.5 miles |
| Alban City School | 77% | 3.6% | 10.2% | 381 | 0.6 miles |
| St Adrian Roman Catholic Primary School | 80% | 4.2% | 11.3% | 194 | 0.7 miles |
| St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans | 81% | 4.1% | 9.6% | 201 | 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.
Inspection history
-
Ungraded inspection report24 April 2025
- 24 September 2019
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 3.95%
- English as an additional language
- 20.9%
- Overall absence
- 3.9%
- Persistent absence
- 6.51%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Peter's School0.3 miles
Primary · St Albans
-
Aboyne Lodge Junior Mixed and Infant School0.5 miles
Primary · St Albans
-
Alban City School0.6 miles
Primary · St Albans
-
St Adrian Roman Catholic Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · St Albans
-
St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans0.7 miles
Primary · St Albans
Other schools in St Albans
The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans ranks 6th of the 31 ranked primary schools in St Albans.
- Aboyne Lodge Junior Mixed and Infant School Primary
- Alban City School Primary
- Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Bernards Heath Junior School Primary
- Bowmansgreen Primary School Primary
- Camp Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Colney Heath Primary School Primary
- Cunningham Hill Infant School Primary
- Cunningham Hill Junior School Primary
- Fleetville Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Fleetville Junior School Primary
- Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans teach?
- The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in St Albans.
- Who is the headteacher of The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans?
- The headteacher of The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans is Mrs Linda O'Melia, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans, 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 The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans?
- The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans has 189 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans full?
- The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans has capacity for 210 pupils and 189 on roll (90%), 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 The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans a faith school?
- Yes. The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of St Albans.
- Does The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans as having no nursery classes.
- How have The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 86% in 2022/23 and 87% 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 Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans compare with other schools in Hertfordshire?
- The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans ranked 15th of 339 primary schools in Hertfordshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 95% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 85% 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 Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans's absence rate?
- The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans's overall absence rate is 3.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Abbey Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, St Albans'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.