Sir John Lawes School
Manland Way, Harpenden, AL5 4QP
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- SCHOLARS' EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Philip Newbery
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Scholars' Education Trust
- Constituency
- Harpenden and Berkhamsted
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 1,373
- URN
- 137270
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582760043
About this school
Sir John Lawes School is a secondary academy in Harpenden. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,373 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
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 | 200 | 199 | 192 |
| Attainment 8 score | 61.0 | 62.3 | 62.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.79 +0.59 to +0.98 | +0.79 +0.58 to +0.99 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 72% | 76.4% | 75.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 88% | 88.9% | 87% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 50% | 45.2% | 52.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.7 |
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 Sir John Lawes 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 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 62.3 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 62.8 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,342 |
| 2023/24 | 1,347 |
| 2024/25 | 1,356 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sir John Lawes School compares
Sir John Lawes School ranked 9th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 95% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 81% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 62.8 | 4.2% | 9.2% | 1,373 | — |
| St George's School | 63.7 | 6.7% | 4.6% | 1,351 | 0.3 miles |
| Katherine Warington School | 54.8 | 7.5% | 16.5% | 1,113 | 0.6 miles |
| Roundwood Park School | 59.5 | 7.7% | 7.8% | 1,421 | 1.2 miles |
| Townsend Church of England School | 46.7 | 11.5% | 24.6% | 746 | 3.4 miles |
| St Albans Girls' School | 58.8 | 7.4% | 11.9% | 1,423 | 3.7 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 9.18%
- English as an additional language
- 12.2%
- Overall absence
- 4.16%
- Persistent absence
- 7.47%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St George's School0.3 miles
Secondary · Harpenden
-
Katherine Warington School0.6 miles
Secondary · Harpenden
-
Roundwood Park School1.2 miles
Secondary · Harpenden
-
Townsend Church of England School3.4 miles
Secondary · St Albans
-
St Albans Girls' School3.7 miles
Secondary · St Albans
Other schools in Harpenden
- Katherine Warington School Secondary
- Roundwood Park 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 year groups does Sir John Lawes School teach?
- Sir John Lawes School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Harpenden.
- Who is the headteacher of Sir John Lawes School?
- The headteacher of Sir John Lawes School is Mr Philip Newbery, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Sir John Lawes School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sir John Lawes 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 Sir John Lawes School?
- Sir John Lawes School has 1,373 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Sir John Lawes School full?
- Sir John Lawes School has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 1,373 on roll (114%), 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 Sir John Lawes School a faith school?
- No. Sir John Lawes School has no designated religious character.
- Is Sir John Lawes School a selective school?
- No. Sir John Lawes School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Sir John Lawes School?
- Sir John Lawes School is part of SCHOLARS' EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Sir John Lawes School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 61 in 2022/23 and 62.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Sir John Lawes School rank locally?
- Sir John Lawes School ranked 9th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 95% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 81% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Sir John Lawes School's absence rate?
- Sir John Lawes School's overall absence rate is 4.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sir John Lawes School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sir John Lawes 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.