Dame Alice Owen's School
Dugdale Hill Lane, Potters Bar, EN6 2DU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- DAME ALICE OWEN'S SCHOOL
- Head
- Mrs Hannah Nemko
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Hertsmere
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,416
- Pupils on roll
- 1,467
- URN
- 136554
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01707643441
About this school
Dame Alice Owen's School is a secondary academy in Potters Bar. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,467 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Dame Alice Owen's School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 195 | 210 | 200 |
| Attainment 8 score | 71.4 | 73.5 | 72.9 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.64 +0.43 to +0.84 | +0.92 +0.72 to +1.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 90% | 88.1% | 87.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 96% | 93.3% | 94.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 82% | 77.1% | 73.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 6.8 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
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 Dame Alice Owen's 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 | 71.4 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 73.5 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 72.9 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,449 |
| 2023/24 | 1,479 |
| 2024/25 | 1,468 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Dame Alice Owen's School compares
Dame Alice Owen's School ranked 1st of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 98% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 83% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 72.9 | 4% | 4.9% | 1,467 | — |
| Gracewood Academy | — | — | — | 420 | 1.3 miles |
| Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet | 85.6 | 3.3% | 4.2% | 1,321 | 2.4 miles |
| Chancellor's School | 47.6 | 8.8% | 17.9% | 1,241 | 2.7 miles |
| Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School | 58.6 | 7.1% | 22.9% | 1,078 | 2.7 miles |
| JCoSS | 60.9 | 8.1% | 5% | 1,356 | 2.9 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)
- 4.85%
- English as an additional language
- 7.5%
- Overall absence
- 4.04%
- Persistent absence
- 7.04%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Gracewood Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Potters Bar
-
Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet2.4 miles
Secondary · Barnet
-
Chancellor's School2.7 miles
Secondary · Hatfield
-
Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School2.7 miles
Secondary · Barnet
-
JCoSS2.9 miles
Secondary · New Barnet
Other schools in Potters Bar
- Gracewood Academy Secondary
- Cranborne Primary School Primary
- Cuffley School Primary
- Ladbrooke Junior Mixed and Infant School Primary
- Little Heath Primary School Primary
- Oakmere Primary School Primary
- Pope Paul Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Giles' CofE Primary School Primary
- The Wroxham School Primary
- Chase House School Special schools
- Darwin School Special schools
- Elysium Healthcare Potters Bar Clinic School Special schools
Common questions
- What ages does Dame Alice Owen's School teach?
- Dame Alice Owen's School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Potters Bar.
- Who is the head of Dame Alice Owen's School?
- The head of Dame Alice Owen's School is Mrs Hannah Nemko, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Dame Alice Owen's School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Dame Alice Owen's 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 Dame Alice Owen's School?
- Dame Alice Owen's School has 1,467 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Dame Alice Owen's School full?
- Dame Alice Owen's School has capacity for 1,416 pupils and 1,467 on roll (104%), 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 Dame Alice Owen's School a faith school?
- No. Dame Alice Owen's School has no designated religious character.
- Is Dame Alice Owen's School a selective school?
- No. Dame Alice Owen's School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Dame Alice Owen's School part of an academy trust?
- Dame Alice Owen's School is part of DAME ALICE OWEN'S SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Dame Alice Owen's School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 71.4 in 2022/23 and 72.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Dame Alice Owen's School compare with other schools in Hertfordshire?
- Dame Alice Owen's School ranked 1st of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 98% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 83% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Dame Alice Owen's School's absence rate?
- Dame Alice Owen's School's overall absence rate is 4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Dame Alice Owen's School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Dame Alice Owen's 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 1 July 2026.