The Hemel Hempstead School
Heath Lane, Hemel Hempstead, HP1 1TX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SCHOLARS' EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Neil Hassell
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Scholars' Education Trust
- Constituency
- Hemel Hempstead
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,450
- Pupils on roll
- 1,287
- URN
- 149500
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01442390100
About this school
The Hemel Hempstead School is a secondary academy in Hemel Hempstead. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,287 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
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 212 | 209 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.8 | 49.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.14 -0.33 to +0.06 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45.8% | 51.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 72.2% | 74.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 30.7% | 25.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 4.3 |
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 The Hemel Hempstead 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 | 47.8 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.9 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 1,316 |
| 2024/25 | 1,286 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Hemel Hempstead School compares
The Hemel Hempstead School ranked 40th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 75% 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 | 49.9 | 7.5% | 18.3% | 1,287 | — |
| Laureate Academy | 41.7 | 13.8% | 38% | 703 | 0.6 miles |
| John F Kennedy Catholic School | 47.9 | 7.1% | 15.1% | 1,073 | 1.2 miles |
| The Adeyfield Academy | 35.1 | 10.3% | 34.2% | 858 | 1.3 miles |
| Longdean School | 42.4 | 9.7% | 27.9% | 1,436 | 1.6 miles |
| The Astley Cooper School | 34.7 | 13.7% | 36.8% | 914 | 2.3 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.25%
- English as an additional language
- 14.3%
- Overall absence
- 7.45%
- Persistent absence
- 20.7%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Laureate Academy0.6 miles
Secondary · Hemel Hempstead
-
John F Kennedy Catholic School1.2 miles
Secondary · Hemel Hempstead
-
The Adeyfield Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Hemel Hempstead
-
Longdean School1.6 miles
Secondary · Hemel Hempstead
-
The Astley Cooper School2.3 miles
Secondary · Hemel Hempstead
Other schools in Hemel Hempstead
The Hemel Hempstead School ranks 1st of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Hemel Hempstead.
- John F Kennedy Catholic School Secondary
- Laureate Academy Secondary
- Longdean School Secondary
- The Adeyfield Academy Secondary
- The Astley Cooper School Secondary
- Heath Lane Nursery School Nursery
- Aycliffe Drive Primary School Primary
- Belswains Primary School Primary
- Bovingdon Primary Academy Primary
- Boxmoor Primary School Primary
- Broadfield Academy Primary
- Brockswood Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Hemel Hempstead School teach?
- The Hemel Hempstead School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Hemel Hempstead.
- Who is the headteacher of The Hemel Hempstead School?
- The headteacher of The Hemel Hempstead School is Mr Neil Hassell, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Hemel Hempstead School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Hemel Hempstead 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 The Hemel Hempstead School?
- The Hemel Hempstead School has 1,287 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Hemel Hempstead School full?
- The Hemel Hempstead School has capacity for 1,450 pupils and 1,287 on roll (89%), so it has space against 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 Hemel Hempstead School a faith school?
- No. The Hemel Hempstead School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Hemel Hempstead School a selective school?
- No. The Hemel Hempstead School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Hemel Hempstead School?
- The Hemel Hempstead 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 The Hemel Hempstead School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.8 in 2023/24 and 49.9 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 Hemel Hempstead School rank locally?
- The Hemel Hempstead School ranked 40th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 75% 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 The Hemel Hempstead School's absence rate?
- The Hemel Hempstead School's overall absence rate is 7.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Hemel Hempstead School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Hemel Hempstead 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.