John F Kennedy Catholic School
Hollybush Lane, Hemel Hempstead, HP1 2PH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Paul Neves
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Westminster
- Constituency
- Hemel Hempstead
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,243
- Pupils on roll
- 1,073
- URN
- 149743
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01442266150
About this school
John F Kennedy Catholic School is a Roman Catholic secondary academy in Hemel Hempstead. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,073 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 | 178 | 178 |
| Attainment 8 score | 50.9 | 47.9 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.15 -0.05 to +0.36 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 56.2% | 54.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 79.2% | 75.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 17.4% | 16.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 4.0 |
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 John F Kennedy Catholic 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 | 50.9 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47.9 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 1,100 |
| 2024/25 | 1,078 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How John F Kennedy Catholic School compares
John F Kennedy Catholic School ranked 49th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 69% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47.9 | 7.1% | 15.1% | 1,073 | — |
| Laureate Academy | 41.7 | 13.8% | 38% | 703 | 0.7 miles |
| The Hemel Hempstead School | 49.9 | 7.5% | 18.3% | 1,287 | 1.2 miles |
| The Adeyfield Academy | 35.1 | 10.3% | 34.2% | 858 | 2.2 miles |
| The Astley Cooper School | 34.7 | 13.7% | 36.8% | 914 | 2.5 miles |
| Longdean School | 42.4 | 9.7% | 27.9% | 1,436 | 2.7 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)
- 15.11%
- English as an additional language
- 24%
- Overall absence
- 7.13%
- Persistent absence
- 15.62%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Laureate Academy0.7 miles
Secondary · Hemel Hempstead
-
The Hemel Hempstead School1.2 miles
Secondary · Hemel Hempstead
-
The Adeyfield Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Hemel Hempstead
-
The Astley Cooper School2.5 miles
Secondary · Hemel Hempstead
-
Longdean School2.7 miles
Secondary · Hemel Hempstead
Other schools in Hemel Hempstead
John F Kennedy Catholic School ranks 2nd of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Hemel Hempstead.
- Laureate Academy Secondary
- Longdean School Secondary
- The Adeyfield Academy Secondary
- The Astley Cooper School Secondary
- The Hemel Hempstead 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 John F Kennedy Catholic School teach?
- John F Kennedy Catholic School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Hemel Hempstead.
- Who is the headteacher of John F Kennedy Catholic School?
- The headteacher of John F Kennedy Catholic School is Mr Paul Neves, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was John F Kennedy Catholic School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected John F Kennedy Catholic 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 John F Kennedy Catholic School?
- John F Kennedy Catholic School has 1,073 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is John F Kennedy Catholic School full?
- John F Kennedy Catholic School has capacity for 1,243 pupils and 1,073 on roll (86%), 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 John F Kennedy Catholic School a faith school?
- Yes. John F Kennedy Catholic School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Westminster.
- Is John F Kennedy Catholic School a selective school?
- No. John F Kennedy Catholic School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs John F Kennedy Catholic School?
- John F Kennedy Catholic School is part of ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have John F Kennedy Catholic School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 50.9 in 2023/24 and 47.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does John F Kennedy Catholic School rank locally?
- John F Kennedy Catholic School ranked 49th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 69% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is John F Kennedy Catholic School's absence rate?
- John F Kennedy Catholic School's overall absence rate is 7.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are John F Kennedy Catholic School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, John F Kennedy Catholic 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 13 August 2026.