Sandringham School
The Ridgeway, St Albans, AL4 9NX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- AMBITION EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Alan Gray
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Ambition Education Trust
- Constituency
- St Albans
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,278
- Pupils on roll
- 1,777
- URN
- 136609
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01727799560
About this school
Sandringham School is a secondary academy in St Albans. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,777 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Sandringham 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
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 | 240 | 240 | 236 |
| Attainment 8 score | 61.2 | 64.6 | 65.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.83 +0.64 to +1.01 | +1.06 +0.88 to +1.25 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 75% | 81.7% | 83.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 88% | 92.1% | 88.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 57% | 59.2% | 48.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
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 Sandringham 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 | 61.2 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 64.6 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 65.1 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,712 |
| 2023/24 | 1,767 |
| 2024/25 | 1,817 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sandringham School compares
Sandringham School ranked 6th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 96% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 59% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 65.1 | 5.1% | 8.4% | 1,777 | — |
| St Albans Girls' School | 58.8 | 7.4% | 11.9% | 1,423 | 1.0 miles |
| Verulam School | 52.5 | 7.4% | 15.1% | 987 | 1.1 miles |
| Beaumont School | 62.6 | 5.2% | 5.3% | 1,722 | 1.1 miles |
| Townsend Church of England School | 46.7 | 11.5% | 24.6% | 746 | 1.5 miles |
| Loreto College | 58.3 | 8% | 15% | 952 | 1.5 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)
- 8.37%
- English as an additional language
- 13.4%
- Overall absence
- 5.06%
- Persistent absence
- 11.03%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Albans Girls' School1.0 miles
Secondary · St Albans
-
Verulam School1.1 miles
Secondary · St Albans
-
Beaumont School1.1 miles
Secondary · St Albans
-
Townsend Church of England School1.5 miles
Secondary · St Albans
-
Loreto College1.5 miles
Secondary · St Albans
Other schools in St Albans
Sandringham School ranks 1st of the 9 ranked secondary schools in St Albans.
- Beaumont School Secondary
- Loreto College Secondary
- Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School Secondary
- St Albans Girls' School Secondary
- The Marlborough Science Academy Secondary
- Townsend Church of England School Secondary
- Verulam School Secondary
- 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
Common questions
- What ages does Sandringham School teach?
- Sandringham School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in St Albans.
- Who is the headteacher of Sandringham School?
- The headteacher of Sandringham School is Mr Alan Gray, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Sandringham School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sandringham 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 Sandringham School?
- Sandringham School has 1,777 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Sandringham School full?
- Sandringham School has capacity for 1,278 pupils and 1,777 on roll (139%), 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 Sandringham School a faith school?
- No. Sandringham School has no designated religious character.
- Is Sandringham School a selective school?
- No. Sandringham School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Sandringham School part of an academy trust?
- Sandringham School is part of AMBITION EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Sandringham School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 61.2 in 2022/23 and 65.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Sandringham School compare with other schools in Hertfordshire?
- Sandringham School ranked 6th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 96% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 59% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Sandringham School's absence rate?
- Sandringham School's overall absence rate is 5.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sandringham School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sandringham 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.