Barnwell School
Barnwell, Stevenage, SG2 9SW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Miss Maria Townsend
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Stevenage
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,590
- Pupils on roll
- 1,270
- URN
- 117518
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01438222500
About this school
Barnwell School is a foundation secondary school in Stevenage. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,270 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 192 | 217 | 206 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.1 | 39.6 | 41.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.31 -0.52 to -0.11 | -0.32 -0.52 to -0.12 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 37% | 33.2% | 37.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 57.6% | 58.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 10% | 7.8% | 13.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.4 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Barnwell 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 | 43.1 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.6 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.5 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,227 |
| 2023/24 | 1,323 |
| 2024/25 | 1,315 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Barnwell School compares
Barnwell School ranked 65th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.5 | 10.9% | 30.1% | 1,270 | — |
| Marriotts School | 42.4 | 9.4% | 32.9% | 1,415 | 1.0 miles |
| The Nobel School | 50.2 | 7.3% | 19.9% | 1,475 | 1.5 miles |
| Barclay Academy | 49.5 | 8.6% | 26% | 1,044 | 2.2 miles |
| The Thomas Alleyne Academy | 48 | 7.9% | 23.9% | 970 | 2.3 miles |
| The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School | 57.9 | 5.5% | 10.3% | 1,620 | 2.7 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
-
Graded inspection report6 January 2026
- 24 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 30.07%
- English as an additional language
- 14.5%
- Overall absence
- 10.93%
- Persistent absence
- 28.23%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Marriotts School1.0 miles
Secondary · Stevenage
-
The Nobel School1.5 miles
Secondary · Stevenage
-
Barclay Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Stevenage
-
The Thomas Alleyne Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Stevenage
-
The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School2.7 miles
Secondary · Stevenage
Other schools in Stevenage
Barnwell School ranks 6th of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Stevenage.
- Barclay Academy Secondary
- Marriotts School Secondary
- The Nobel School Secondary
- The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School Secondary
- The Thomas Alleyne Academy Secondary
- Peartree Way Nursery School Nursery
- Almond Hill Junior School Primary
- Ardeley St Lawrence Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Ashtree Primary Academy Primary
- Aston St Mary's Church of England Aided Primary School Primary
- Bedwell Primary School Primary
- Benington Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Barnwell School teach?
- Barnwell School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Stevenage.
- Who is the headteacher of Barnwell School?
- The headteacher of Barnwell School is Miss Maria Townsend, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Barnwell School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Barnwell 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 Barnwell School?
- Barnwell School has 1,270 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Barnwell School full?
- Barnwell School has capacity for 1,590 pupils and 1,270 on roll (80%), 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 Barnwell School a faith school?
- No. Barnwell School has no designated religious character.
- Is Barnwell School a selective school?
- No. Barnwell School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Barnwell School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.1 in 2022/23 and 41.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Barnwell School rank locally?
- Barnwell School ranked 65th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Barnwell School's absence rate?
- Barnwell School's overall absence rate is 10.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Barnwell School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Barnwell 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.