St Paul's Walden Primary School
Primary · Community school · Ages 4–11 · Hitchin, Hertfordshire
Last distance offered · Reception 2026
1.02 miles
Nearest School · Published by Hertfordshire County Council · offers on 16 April 2026
Reception last distance offered, 2019–2026 (miles)
St Paul's Walden Primary School is a primary school in Hitchin, Hertfordshire for ages 4–11 (community school). Its latest Ofsted outcome is Good, from the inspection on 19 March 2024. Hertfordshire has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2015 to 2026 entry.
St Paul's Walden Primary School catchment area: last distance offered
Parents often call this the catchment area: it's how far from the school the last child offered a place lived. It changes every year.
| Entry | Last distance offered |
|---|---|
| Reception 2026 | 1.02 mi |
| Reception 2025 | 1.09 mi |
| Reception 2024 | 0.28 mi |
| Reception 2023 | 1.22 mi |
| Reception 2022 | 0.36 mi |
| Reception 2021 | 0.30 mi |
| Reception 2020 | 0.81 mi |
| Reception 2019 | 0.30 mi |
| Reception 2018 | 0.40 mi |
| Reception 2017 | 1.09 mi |
| Reception 2016 | 0.29 mi |
| Reception 2015 | 0.53 mi |
What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment
What the figures show
- For Reception 2026, the last child offered a place as their nearest school lived 1.02 miles away, about the same as in 2025; distances swung sharply between some years.
- In 2024/25, 71% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (England 62%), while 0% reached the higher standard (England 8%).
- In Reception 2026 there were 11 first-choice applications for 11 offers, and every first-choice family was offered a place.
- 27% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, against a middle figure of 17.6% across the 8 nearest primary schools in Hertfordshire.
Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other Hertfordshire schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.
Key facts
- Address
- Bendish Lane, Whitwell, Hitchin, SG4 8HX
- Type
- Community school
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- 4–11
- Council
- Hertfordshire
- Pupils on roll
- 74 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 27% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 17.2
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
Good Inspected 19 March 2024
Strengths
- “Pupils join a school where they learn to be positive, resilient individuals.”
- “Pupils arrive happily in the mornings and enter school chatting cheerfully.”
- “They live out the school values in the local community too.”
To improve
- “However, leaders accept how the open-ended approach to assessment in some subjects is unhelpful.”
- “It does not neatly capture what pupils have learned to efficiently inform teaching.”
- “Because of this, staff are not routinely aware of what content they should home in on to maximise pupils’ learning.”
Safeguarding: Effective
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 7 May 2024 (read the report). Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Exam results
| Measure | School | England |
|---|---|---|
| Key stage 2 · reading, writing and maths, expected standard (2024/25) | 71% | 62% |
Department for Education school performance data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Applications and offers
- 2026 Reception entry: 11 first-preference applications, 11 offers in total, 11 offers to first-preference applicants.
Department for Education, school-level applications and offers, figures on national offer day. Earlier years are in the pass.
Nearby primary schools
Straight-line distance, in Hertfordshire.
- Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School 1.8 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- Kimpton Primary School 1.8 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- Preston Primary School 2.1 mi Good Last distance published
- Codicote Church of England Primary School 2.9 mi Not judged Last distance published
- Cockernhoe Endowed CofE Primary School 3.7 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- Woolenwick Infant and Nursery School 3.8 mi School remains Outstanding Last distance published
- Woolenwick Junior School 3.8 mi Good
- St Ippolyts Church of England Aided Primary School 3.9 mi Good Last distance published
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