Katherine Warington School
Lower Luton Road, Harpenden, AL5 5FH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- HARPENDEN SECONDARY EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr David Martin
- Constituency
- Harpenden and Berkhamsted
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Pupils on roll
- 1,113
- URN
- 145890
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582314777
About this school
Katherine Warington School is a secondary academy in Harpenden. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,113 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Katherine Warington 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 1 | 175 | 173 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | 54.0 | 54.8 |
| Progress 8 score | - | +0.48 +0.26 to +0.69 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | 58.3% | 59.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | 74.9% | 76.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | 21.1% | 26.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | 4.6 | 4.9 |
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 Katherine Warington 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 | — | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 54 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 54.8 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 744 |
| 2023/24 | 923 |
| 2024/25 | 1,017 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Katherine Warington School compares
Katherine Warington School ranked 30th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 87% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54.8 | 7.5% | 16.5% | 1,113 | — |
| Sir John Lawes School | 62.8 | 4.2% | 9.2% | 1,373 | 0.6 miles |
| St George's School | 63.7 | 6.7% | 4.6% | 1,351 | 0.9 miles |
| Roundwood Park School | 59.5 | 7.7% | 7.8% | 1,421 | 1.7 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 | 3.6 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)
- 16.52%
- English as an additional language
- 7.1%
- Overall absence
- 7.46%
- Persistent absence
- 16.49%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sir John Lawes School0.6 miles
Secondary · Harpenden
-
St George's School0.9 miles
Secondary · Harpenden
-
Roundwood Park School1.7 miles
Secondary · Harpenden
-
Townsend Church of England School3.4 miles
Secondary · St Albans
-
St Albans Girls' School3.6 miles
Secondary · St Albans
Other schools in Harpenden
- Roundwood Park 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 Katherine Warington School teach?
- Katherine Warington School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Harpenden.
- Who is the headteacher of Katherine Warington School?
- The headteacher of Katherine Warington School is Mr David Martin, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Katherine Warington School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Katherine Warington 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 Katherine Warington School?
- Katherine Warington School has 1,113 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Katherine Warington School a faith school?
- No. Katherine Warington School has no designated religious character.
- Is Katherine Warington School part of an academy trust?
- Katherine Warington School is part of HARPENDEN SECONDARY EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Katherine Warington School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 54 in 2023/24 and 54.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Katherine Warington School compare with other schools in Hertfordshire?
- Katherine Warington School ranked 30th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 87% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Katherine Warington School's absence rate?
- Katherine Warington School's overall absence rate is 7.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Katherine Warington School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Katherine Warington 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 10 July 2026.