Barley (VA) Church of England First School

Primary · Voluntary aided school · Ages 3–9 · Royston, Hertfordshire

Last distance offered · Reception 2026

Not published

From Hertfordshire County Council · offers on 16 April 2026

Reception last distance offered, 2015–2019 (miles)

1.14

1.12

1.75

1.44

0.16

20152016201720182019

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Barley (VA) Church of England First School is a primary school in Royston, Hertfordshire for ages 3–9 (voluntary aided school). Its latest Ofsted outcome is Good, from the inspection on 17 January 2023. Hertfordshire has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2015 to 2026 entry.

Barley (VA) Church of England First 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	Not published
Reception 2025	Not published
Reception 2024	Not published
Reception 2023	Not published
Reception 2022	Not published
Reception 2021	Not published
Reception 2020	Not published
Reception 2019	0.16 mi
Reception 2018	1.44 mi
Reception 2017	1.75 mi
Reception 2016	1.12 mi
Reception 2015	1.14 mi

What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment

What the figures show

No Reception 2026 last distance was published; of the 5 years with one, 2015 to 2019, the 2019 figure was the shortest, nearer than in 2018 and 2015.
There were 25 pupils on roll in January 2026, with 6 pupils per teacher against a middle figure of 20.4 across the 8 nearest primary schools in Hertfordshire.
32% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, against a middle figure of 11% 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: Church End, Barley, Royston, SG8 8JW
Type: Voluntary aided school
Phase: Primary
Ages: 3–9
Religious character: Church of England
Council: Hertfordshire
Pupils on roll: 25 January 2026 school census
Free school meals: 32% of pupils eligible
Pupils per teacher: 6

Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026

Ofsted

Good Inspected 17 January 2023

Strengths

“Pupils happily attend this very small village school.”
“They have firm friends and feel well supported by the staff.”
“Pupils enjoy the various clubs and outside learning opportunities they have.”

To improve

“However, not all pupils who need ‘catch up’ or ‘keep up’ sessions read books that closely match their phonic knowledge.”
“This means that these pupils are not able to build up their understanding as well as they might.”
“However, in a few subjects they do not do this as well as in other subjects.”

Safeguarding: Effective

Quoted from the Ofsted report published 15 March 2023 (read the report). Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Applications and offers

2026 Reception entry: 0 first-preference applications, 0 offers in total, 0 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.

Barkway VA Church of England First School 2.1 mi Good Last distance published
Reed First School 2.7 mi Good Last distance published
Studlands Rise First School 2.7 mi Not judged Last distance published
Icknield Walk First School 2.8 mi Not judged Last distance published
St Mary Roman Catholic Primary School 3.1 mi Not judged Last distance published
Tannery Drift School 3.3 mi Not judged Last distance published
Anstey First School 3.5 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
Roman Way Academy 3.6 mi Good Last distance published