Heathlands School
Heathlands Drive, St Albans, AL3 5AY
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 3 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Head Teacher
- Mrs Lesley Reeves Costi
- Boarding
- Boarding school
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- St Albans
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Pupils on roll
- 150
- URN
- 117685
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01727807807
About this school
Heathlands School is a community special school in St Albans. It teaches children aged 3 to 18 and has 150 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 8 February 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Outstanding. 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 | 4 | 10 | 8 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | - | 20% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | - | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | - | 20% | 13% |
| Expected standard in maths | - | 30% | 50% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | - | 20% | 25% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | 99.0 | 93.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | 99.0 | 99.0 |
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 6 | 20 | 18 |
| Attainment 8 score | 4.9 | 34.3 | 6.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.09 -2.23 to +0.04 | +0.93 +0.30 to +1.57 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 15% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 30% | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.3 | 3.0 | 0.5 |
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 Heathlands 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 | — | 59.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 20% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 61% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Hertfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.9 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 34.3 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 6.4 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 129 |
| 2023/24 | 145 |
| 2024/25 | 153 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 41.01%
- English as an additional language
- 87.6%
- Overall absence
- 7.93%
- Persistent absence
- 17.59%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Batchwood School0.4 miles
Special schools · St Albans
-
St Albans High School for Girls0.5 miles
Independent schools
-
St Albans Independent College1.0 miles
Independent schools · St Albans
-
St Albans School1.1 miles
Independent schools · St Albans
-
St Columba's College1.6 miles
Independent schools · St Albans
Other schools in St Albans
- Batchwood School Special schools
- Links Academy Academies
- St Luke's School Special schools
- Watling View School Special schools
- Muriel Green Nursery School Nursery
- 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
Common questions
- What year groups does Heathlands School teach?
- Heathlands School teaches children aged 3 to 18. It is a special school in St Albans.
- Who is the head teacher of Heathlands School?
- The head teacher of Heathlands School is Mrs Lesley Reeves Costi, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Heathlands School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Heathlands 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 Heathlands School?
- Heathlands School has 150 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 18.
- Is Heathlands School a faith school?
- No. Heathlands School has no designated religious character.
- How have Heathlands School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 20% in 2023/24 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Heathlands School's absence rate?
- Heathlands School's overall absence rate is 7.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Heathlands School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Heathlands 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.