Waterside Academy

Primary · Academy converter · Ages 3–11 · Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

Last distance offered · Reception 2026

0.48 miles

Published by Hertfordshire County Council · offers on 16 April 2026

Reception last distance offered, 2019–2026 (miles)

0.23

1.18

1.42

1.48

1.86

2.12

1.68

0.48

20192020202120222023202420252026

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Waterside Academy is a primary school in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire for ages 3–11 (academy converter). Hertfordshire has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2015 to 2026 entry.

Waterside Academy 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	0.48 mi
Reception 2025	1.68 mi
Reception 2024	2.12 mi
Reception 2023	1.86 mi
Reception 2022	1.48 mi
Reception 2021	1.42 mi
Reception 2020	1.18 mi
Reception 2019	0.23 mi
Reception 2018	0.38 mi
Reception 2017	0.29 mi
Reception 2016	0.34 mi
Reception 2015	0.40 mi

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

What the figures show

41.6% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, against a middle figure of 20.6% across the 8 nearest primary schools in Hertfordshire.
For Reception 2026, there were 19 first-choice applications for 21 offers; every first-choice family was offered a place, and 2 offers went to families who ranked it second or lower.
The 2026 Reception last distance offered was 0.48 miles, the 131st longest of 275 Hertfordshire primary schools with a published last distance, nearer than in 2025.
In 2024/25, 64% met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (England 62%), and 7% reached the higher standard (England 8%).

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: Rowans, Welwyn Garden City, AL7 1NZ
Type: Academy converter
Phase: Primary
Ages: 3–11
Council: Hertfordshire
Pupils on roll: 166 January 2026 school census
Free school meals: 41.6% of pupils eligible
Pupils per teacher: 18.2

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

Ofsted

No Ofsted grade Inspected 24 February 2026

Strengths

“Pupils receive a warm and friendly welcome each day.”
“This helps them to feel secure and valued.”
“They know that staff care deeply about their wellbeing because staff take time to build positive relationships with them.”

To improve

“However, there are some inconsistencies in this aspect of the school's work.”
“Handwriting has been a recent focus for leaders, and they continue to prioritise improving the consistency in pupils’ letter formation.”
“However, because the ambitious curriculum is relatively new, some pupils have gaps in their learning.”

Safeguarding: met

Quoted from the Ofsted report published 6 May 2026 (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)	64%	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: 19 first-preference applications, 21 offers in total, 19 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.

The Holy Family Catholic Primary School 0.0 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
St John's CofE Primary School 0.5 mi School remains Good Last distance published
Panshanger Primary School 0.7 mi Good Last distance published
Harwood Hill Junior Mixed Infant and Nursery School 0.8 mi School remains Good Last distance published
Springmead Primary School 0.8 mi Good Last distance published
Homerswood Primary and Nursery School 1.0 mi Not judged Last distance published
Watchlytes Primary School 1.0 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
Templewood Primary School 1.2 mi Good Last distance published