The Marlborough Science Academy
Watling Street, St Albans, AL1 2QA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE MARLBOROUGH SCIENCE ACADEMY LIMITED
- Headteacher
- Ms Annie Thomson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- St Albans
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,250
- Pupils on roll
- 1,337
- URN
- 138042
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01727856874
About this school
The Marlborough Science Academy is a secondary academy in St Albans. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,337 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
- Good
- 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 | 202 | 205 | 217 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.5 | 44.1 | 43.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.18 -0.38 to +0.02 | -0.10 -0.30 to +0.10 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 47% | 39.5% | 36.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71% | 65.4% | 60.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 53% | 46.3% | 40.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.8 |
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 The Marlborough Science Academy 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 | 45.5 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.1 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.4 | 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 | 9.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,290 |
| 2023/24 | 1,319 |
| 2024/25 | 1,335 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Marlborough Science Academy compares
The Marlborough Science Academy ranked 58th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43.4 | 9.8% | 22.3% | 1,337 | — |
| Loreto College | 58.3 | 8% | 15% | 952 | 1.3 miles |
| Verulam School | 52.5 | 7.4% | 15.1% | 987 | 1.8 miles |
| St Albans Girls' School | 58.8 | 7.4% | 11.9% | 1,423 | 2.3 miles |
| Beaumont School | 62.6 | 5.2% | 5.3% | 1,722 | 2.4 miles |
| Townsend Church of England School | 46.7 | 11.5% | 24.6% | 746 | 2.5 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)
- 22.32%
- English as an additional language
- 8.7%
- Overall absence
- 9.76%
- Persistent absence
- 30.05%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Loreto College1.3 miles
Secondary · St Albans
-
Verulam School1.8 miles
Secondary · St Albans
-
St Albans Girls' School2.3 miles
Secondary · St Albans
-
Beaumont School2.4 miles
Secondary · St Albans
-
Townsend Church of England School2.5 miles
Secondary · St Albans
Other schools in St Albans
The Marlborough Science Academy ranks 9th of the 9 ranked secondary schools in St Albans.
- Beaumont School Secondary
- Loreto College Secondary
- Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School Secondary
- Sandringham School Secondary
- St Albans Girls' School 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 year groups does The Marlborough Science Academy teach?
- The Marlborough Science Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in St Albans.
- Who is the headteacher of The Marlborough Science Academy?
- The headteacher of The Marlborough Science Academy is Ms Annie Thomson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Marlborough Science Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Marlborough Science Academy, 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 The Marlborough Science Academy?
- The Marlborough Science Academy has 1,337 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Marlborough Science Academy full?
- The Marlborough Science Academy has capacity for 1,250 pupils and 1,337 on roll (107%), 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 The Marlborough Science Academy a faith school?
- No. The Marlborough Science Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Marlborough Science Academy a selective school?
- No. The Marlborough Science Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Marlborough Science Academy?
- The Marlborough Science Academy is part of THE MARLBOROUGH SCIENCE ACADEMY LIMITED. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Marlborough Science Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.5 in 2022/23 and 43.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Marlborough Science Academy rank locally?
- The Marlborough Science Academy ranked 58th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Marlborough Science Academy's absence rate?
- The Marlborough Science Academy's overall absence rate is 9.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Marlborough Science Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Marlborough Science Academy'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.