Roundwood Park School
Roundwood Park, Harpenden, AL5 3AE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ROUNDWOOD PARK SCHOOL ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Katherine Barter
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Harpenden and Berkhamsted
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,179
- Pupils on roll
- 1,421
- URN
- 136973
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582765344
About this school
Roundwood Park School is a secondary academy in Harpenden. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,421 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Roundwood Park 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 | 210 | 196 | 194 |
| Attainment 8 score | 59.8 | 62.5 | 59.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.54 +0.35 to +0.74 | +0.79 +0.59 to +0.99 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 76% | 79.1% | 67% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 85% | 91.8% | 86.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 33% | 30.6% | 32% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.4 | 5.6 | 5.3 |
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 Roundwood Park 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 | 59.8 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 62.5 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 59.5 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,358 |
| 2023/24 | 1,370 |
| 2024/25 | 1,437 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Roundwood Park School compares
Roundwood Park School ranked 15th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 93% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 19% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 59.5 | 7.7% | 7.8% | 1,421 | — |
| St George's School | 63.7 | 6.7% | 4.6% | 1,351 | 0.8 miles |
| Sir John Lawes School | 62.8 | 4.2% | 9.2% | 1,373 | 1.2 miles |
| Katherine Warington School | 54.8 | 7.5% | 16.5% | 1,113 | 1.7 miles |
| Townsend Church of England School | 46.7 | 11.5% | 24.6% | 746 | 3.4 miles |
| Chiltern Academy | 49.5 | 6.8% | 37.8% | 1,203 | 3.8 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)
- 7.75%
- English as an additional language
- 8.3%
- Overall absence
- 7.69%
- Persistent absence
- 22.65%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St George's School0.8 miles
Secondary · Harpenden
-
Sir John Lawes School1.2 miles
Secondary · Harpenden
-
Katherine Warington School1.7 miles
Secondary · Harpenden
-
Townsend Church of England School3.4 miles
Secondary · St Albans
-
Chiltern Academy3.8 miles
Secondary · Luton
Other schools in Harpenden
- Katherine Warington School Secondary
- Sir John Lawes School Secondary
- St George's School Secondary
- Batford Nursery School Nursery
- Crabtree Infants' School Primary
- Crabtree Junior School Primary
- Harpenden Academy Primary
- High Beeches Primary School Primary
- Manland Primary School Primary
- Roundwood Primary School Primary
- Sauncey Wood Primary School Primary
- St Dominic Catholic Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Roundwood Park School teach?
- Roundwood Park School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Harpenden.
- Who is the headteacher of Roundwood Park School?
- The headteacher of Roundwood Park School is Mrs Katherine Barter, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Roundwood Park School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Roundwood Park 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 Roundwood Park School?
- Roundwood Park School has 1,421 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Roundwood Park School full?
- Roundwood Park School has capacity for 1,179 pupils and 1,421 on roll (121%), 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 Roundwood Park School a faith school?
- No. Roundwood Park School has no designated religious character.
- Is Roundwood Park School a selective school?
- No. Roundwood Park School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Roundwood Park School part of an academy trust?
- Roundwood Park School is part of ROUNDWOOD PARK SCHOOL ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Roundwood Park School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 59.8 in 2022/23 and 59.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Roundwood Park School compare with other schools in Hertfordshire?
- Roundwood Park School ranked 15th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 93% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 19% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Roundwood Park School's absence rate?
- Roundwood Park School's overall absence rate is 7.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Roundwood Park School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Roundwood Park 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.