Best secondary schools in Hertfordshire (2026)
Hertfordshire has 77 ranked secondary schools with published results. The top-ranked is Dame Alice Owen's School, in the top 4% in England. The average Attainment 8 here in 2025 was 51.1, against 46.1 for England. 18 are in England's top 10%, and 12 are rated Outstanding by Ofsted. Hertfordshire has no grammar schools.
| Rank | School | Attainment 8 (2023–2025 average) | Attainment 8 2025 | Trend | Grade 5+ Eng & maths | Ofsted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Top 4% in England |
Dame Alice Owen's School Potters Bar |
72.6 | 72.9 | 88% | Outstanding | |
2 Top 4% in England |
Watford Grammar School for Boys Watford · Boys · Church of England |
68.1 | 68.9 | 83% | Report card | |
3 Top 5% in England |
Watford Grammar School for Girls Watford · Girls · Church of England |
67.6 | 68.2 | 83% | Outstanding | |
4 Top 5% in England |
Parmiter's School Watford |
66.1 | 66.5 | 81% | Outstanding | |
5 Top 5% in England |
St Clement Danes School Chorleywood |
64.8 | 65.1 | 84% | Outstanding | |
6 Top 6% in England |
Sandringham School St Albans |
63.6 | 65.1 | 84% | Outstanding | |
7 Top 6% in England |
St George's School Harpenden · Christian |
63.9 | 63.7 | 77% | Not judged | |
8 Top 7% in England |
The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College Bishop's Stortford · Girls |
62.9 | 63.6 | 76% | Outstanding | |
9 Top 7% in England |
Sir John Lawes School Harpenden |
62.0 | 62.8 | 76% | Outstanding | |
10 Top 7% in England |
Hockerill Anglo-European College Bishop's Stortford |
62.3 | 61.7 | 72% | Good | |
11 Top 8% in England |
Rickmansworth School Rickmansworth |
60.3 | 61.2 | 80% | Outstanding | |
12 Top 8% in England |
Roundwood Park School Harpenden |
60.6 | 59.5 | 67% | Outstanding | |
13 Top 8% in England |
Beaumont School St Albans |
61.0 | 62.6 | 74% | Not judged | |
14 Top 8% in England |
Yavneh College Borehamwood · Jewish |
60.4 | 61.6 | 75% | Good | |
15 Top 9% in England |
Presdales School Ware · Girls |
58.5 | 58.9 | 70% | Outstanding | |
16 Top 10% in England |
The Bishop's Stortford High School East Hertfordshire · Boys |
58.5 | 60.2 | 69% | No rating | |
17 Top 10% in England |
Loreto College St Albans · Girls · Roman Catholic |
59.2 | 58.3 | 59% | Not judged | |
18 Top 10% in England |
St Albans Girls' School St Albans · Girls |
58.7 | 58.8 | 70% | Not judged | |
19 Top 11% in England |
Hitchin Girls' School Hitchin · Girls |
58.1 | 57.8 | 69% | Not judged | |
20 Top 12% in England |
Hitchin Boys' School Hitchin · Boys |
56.8 | 57.1 | 67% | Report card | |
21 Top 12% in England |
The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School Stevenage · Roman Catholic |
57.3 | 57.9 | 64% | No rating | |
22 Top 14% in England |
Queens' School Bushey |
55.5 | 57.5 | 68% | Not judged | |
23 Top 14% in England |
Richard Hale School Hertford · Boys |
55.1 | 56.3 | 66% | Good | |
24 Top 14% in England |
St Mary's Catholic School Bishop's Stortford · Roman Catholic |
55.5 | 57.6 | 66% | Not judged | |
25 Top 15% in England |
The Broxbourne School Hoddesdon |
54.2 | 55.4 | 67% | Outstanding | |
26 Top 15% in England |
Ashlyns School Berkhamsted |
54.6 | 57.9 | 71% | Good | |
27 Top 17% in England |
Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School Hatfield · Girls |
55.0 | 51.9 | 55% | No rating | |
28 Top 18% in England |
Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School St Albans · Roman Catholic |
54.5 | 56.4 | 65% | Outstanding | |
29 Top 18% in England |
Katherine Warington School Harpenden |
54.4 | 54.8 | 60% | Good | |
30 Top 20% in England |
Samuel Ryder Academy St Albans |
52.8 | 56.5 | 70% | Report card | |
31 Top 20% in England |
Verulam School St Albans · Boys |
53.2 | 52.5 | 55% | No rating | |
32 Top 21% in England |
Simon Balle All-Through School Hertford |
52.3 | 55.4 | 64% | No rating | |
33 Top 22% in England |
Saint Joan of Arc Catholic School Rickmansworth · Roman Catholic |
51.7 | 50.6 | 56% | No rating | |
34 Top 23% in England |
Freman College Buntingford |
52.4 | 53.1 | 52% | No rating | |
35 Top 23% in England |
Tring School Tring · Church of England |
51.4 | 50.5 | 54% | No rating | |
36 Top 24% in England |
Monk's Walk School Welwyn Garden City |
51.8 | 50.8 | 52% | No rating | |
37 Top 25% in England |
Saint Michael's Catholic High School Watford · Roman Catholic |
52.2 | 50.9 | 50% | Not judged | |
38 Top 25% in England |
Chancellor's School Brookmans Park |
51.5 | 47.6 | 47% | No rating | |
39 Top 27% in England |
Croxley Danes School Rickmansworth |
51.2 | 51.3 | 50% | Report card | |
40 Top 28% in England |
The Chauncy School Ware |
51.0 | 49.5 | 46% | No rating | |
41 Top 30% in England |
John F Kennedy Catholic School Hemel Hempstead · Roman Catholic |
49.4 | 47.9 | 54% | Report card | |
42 Top 30% in England |
Goffs Academy Cheshunt |
50.1 | 49.1 | 48% | No rating | |
43 Top 31% in England |
The Nobel School Stevenage |
50.4 | 50.2 | 47% | No rating | |
44 Top 33% in England |
Leventhorpe Sawbridgeworth |
49.8 | 49.6 | 47% | Good | |
45 Top 35% in England |
Barclay Academy Stevenage |
48.0 | 49.5 | 57% | Good | |
46 Top 35% in England |
Stanborough School Welwyn Garden City |
48.4 | 47.9 | 53% | Good | |
47 Top 36% in England |
Kings Langley School Abbots Langley and Kings Langley |
48.3 | 48.6 | 53% | No rating | |
48 Top 37% in England |
The Hemel Hempstead School Hemel Hempstead |
48.8 | 49.9 | 51% | Report card | |
49 Top 41% in England |
Townsend Church of England School St Albans · Church of England |
48.0 | 46.7 | 40% | No rating | |
50 Top 43% in England |
The Priory School Hitchin |
47.7 | 48.5 | 49% | No rating | |
51 Top 44% in England |
The Knights Templar School Baldock |
47.1 | 48.5 | 46% | No rating | |
52 Top 44% in England |
The Thomas Alleyne Academy Stevenage |
46.7 | 48.0 | 53% | No rating | |
53 Top 49% in England |
Bushey Meads School Bushey |
45.5 | 43.6 | 41% | Not judged | |
54 Top 50% in England |
Birchwood High School Bishop's Stortford |
46.4 | 46.1 | 42% | Not judged | |
55 Bottom 46% in England |
The Reach Free School Rickmansworth |
46.0 | 44.2 | 35% | No rating | |
56 Bottom 43% in England |
Goffs - Churchgate Academy Cheshunt |
44.8 | 42.6 | 32% | Report card | |
57 Bottom 42% in England |
The Marlborough Science Academy St Albans |
44.3 | 43.4 | 36% | Good | |
58 Bottom 41% in England |
Robert Barclay Academy Hoddesdon |
43.9 | 44.2 | 39% | Good | |
59 Bottom 38% in England |
Haileybury Turnford Cheshunt |
43.8 | 43.3 | 37% | Report card | |
60 Bottom 38% in England |
St Mary's Church of England High School (VA) Cheshunt · Church of England |
43.5 | 45.0 | 40% | Good | |
61 Bottom 37% in England |
Longdean School Hemel Hempstead |
43.5 | 42.4 | 35% | No rating | |
62 Bottom 35% in England |
King James Academy Royston Royston (North Hertfordshire) |
42.6 | 40.3 | 34% | Good | |
63 Bottom 33% in England |
The Highfield School Letchworth |
41.7 | 41.7 | 40% | Good | |
64 Bottom 27% in England |
Barnwell School Stevenage |
41.4 | 41.5 | 37% | Report card | |
65 Bottom 27% in England |
Westfield Academy Watford |
42.4 | 41.4 | 38% | Not judged | |
66 Bottom 24% in England |
Marriotts School Stevenage |
41.5 | 42.4 | 39% | Report card | |
67 Bottom 24% in England |
Laureate Academy Hemel Hempstead |
40.9 | 41.7 | 39% | Good | |
68 Bottom 22% in England |
The John Warner School Hoddesdon |
40.8 | 40.8 | 32% | Inadequate | |
69 Bottom 21% in England |
Fearnhill School Letchworth |
41.1 | 38.9 | 27% | Report card | |
70 Bottom 20% in England |
Future Academies Watford Watford |
39.3 | 39.8 | 32% | Not judged | |
71 Bottom 16% in England |
Hertswood Academy Borehamwood |
38.9 | 38.3 | 27% | Not judged | |
72 Bottom 16% in England |
The Sele School Hertford |
39.2 | 35.7 | 20% | Not judged | |
73 Bottom 16% in England |
The Grange Academy Bushey |
38.6 | 41.3 | 32% | Not judged | |
74 Bottom 12% in England |
Ridgeway Academy Welwyn Garden City |
37.5 | 35.7 | 25% | Not judged | |
75 Bottom 9% in England |
The Astley Cooper School Hemel Hempstead |
35.9 | 34.7 | 27% | Report card | |
76 Bottom 8% in England |
Onslow St Audrey's School Hatfield |
36.3 | 36.6 | 24% | Good | |
77 Bottom 3% in England |
The Adeyfield Academy Hemel Hempstead |
33.2 | 35.1 | 22% | Good |
Best secondary school in each town
- Watford · best: Watford Grammar School for Boys
- St Albans · best: Sandringham School
- Harpenden · best: St George's School
- Bishop's Stortford · best: The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College
- Rickmansworth · best: Rickmansworth School
- Hitchin · best: Hitchin Girls' School
- Stevenage · best: The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School
- Bushey · best: Queens' School
- Hertford · best: Richard Hale School
- Hoddesdon · best: The Broxbourne School
- Welwyn Garden City · best: Monk's Walk School
- Hemel Hempstead · best: John F Kennedy Catholic School
- Cheshunt · best: Goffs Academy
Also see
Questions
What is the best secondary school in Hertfordshire?
On exam results over the last three years, Dame Alice Owen's School is the top-ranked secondary school in Hertfordshire, in the top 4% of schools in England.
How are the schools ranked?
By published Department for Education exam results averaged over three years: for secondary schools, Attainment 8 plus a quarter of the share getting grade 5+ in English and maths; for primary schools, the share reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths plus half the share reaching the higher standard. The order uses the three-year average, so a school can rank above one with a higher single-year result. Schools with fewer than 10 pupils taking the tests are not ranked. Exam results are only part of the picture: visit, read the Ofsted report and check admissions rules, as living nearby does not guarantee a place.