The Highfield School
Highfield, Letchworth Garden City, SG6 3QA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SCHOLARS' EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lucy Miles
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Scholars' Education Trust
- Constituency
- North East Hertfordshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,068
- Pupils on roll
- 937
- URN
- 150217
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01462620500
About this school
The Highfield School is a secondary academy in Letchworth Garden City. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 937 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Highfield School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
This inspection took place when the school was registered as The Highfield School (URN 117537).
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 171 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.7 |
| Progress 8 score | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 40.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 22.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 |
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 Highfield 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 | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 998 |
| 2024/25 | 978 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Highfield School compares
The Highfield School ranked 63rd of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.7 | 10% | 27.8% | 937 | — |
| Fearnhill School | 38.9 | 10.9% | 39.3% | 597 | 0.6 miles |
| The Priory School | 48.5 | 8.7% | 24.2% | 1,221 | 1.8 miles |
| Hitchin Girls' School | 57.8 | 7.2% | 8.4% | 1,357 | 1.9 miles |
| Hitchin Boys' School | 57.1 | 4.4% | 7.9% | 1,364 | 2.0 miles |
| The Knights Templar School | 48.5 | 6.5% | 20.7% | 1,375 | 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)
- 27.76%
- English as an additional language
- 9.4%
- Overall absence
- 9.99%
- Persistent absence
- 28.94%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Fearnhill School0.6 miles
Secondary · Letchworth
-
The Priory School1.8 miles
Secondary · Hitchin
-
Hitchin Girls' School1.9 miles
Secondary · Hitchin
-
Hitchin Boys' School2.0 miles
Secondary · Hitchin
-
The Knights Templar School2.5 miles
Secondary · Baldock
Other schools in Letchworth Garden City
- Garden City Academy Primary
- Icknield Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Lordship Farm Primary School Primary
- Northfields Infants and Nursery School Primary
- Norton St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School Primary
- St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School Primary
- Stonehill School Primary
- The Grange Academy Primary
- Wilbury Junior School Primary
- North Herts Education Support Centre Local authority maintained schools
- Woolgrove School, Special Needs Academy Academies
- St Christopher School Independent schools
Common questions
- What ages does The Highfield School teach?
- The Highfield School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Letchworth Garden City.
- Who is the headteacher of The Highfield School?
- The headteacher of The Highfield School is Mrs Lucy Miles, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Highfield School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Highfield 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 The Highfield School?
- The Highfield School has 937 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Highfield School full?
- The Highfield School has capacity for 1,068 pupils and 937 on roll (88%), 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 Highfield School a faith school?
- No. The Highfield School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Highfield School a selective school?
- No. The Highfield School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Highfield School part of an academy trust?
- The Highfield 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 does The Highfield School compare with other schools in Hertfordshire?
- The Highfield School ranked 63rd of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% 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 Highfield School's absence rate?
- The Highfield School's overall absence rate is 10% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Highfield School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Highfield 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.