Cunningham Hill Infant School

About Cunningham Hill Infant School

Parents considering Cunningham Hill Infant School will find strong signals of satisfaction from those who know it best. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 241 applications for just 60 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 4.02 to one. Of those 241 applications, 78 were first-preference choices, and 55 first-preference offers were made. That level of demand suggests a school that local families actively want their children to attend. The school is a state-funded, mixed-gender infant school in St Albans, Hertfordshire, catering for children aged 5 to 7. It is currently full, with 180 pupils on roll matching its capacity exactly. The headteacher is Justine Elbourne-Cload, and the school has no religious character. With a relatively low proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 7.8%, the intake is broadly representative of the local area.

Academically, Cunningham Hill Infant School has been judged Outstanding in its most recent Ofsted inspection, which took place in January 2024. Every graded category received the top mark of 1: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This is a clean sweep of Outstanding grades. The school’s previous inspection, in 2009, also rated it Outstanding overall, so it has maintained a strong track record over time. As an infant school, it does not have Key Stage 2 SATs results, but the local authority average for Key Stage 2 attainment in Hertfordshire is 64, and the school sits within a competitive landscape where 45 out of 401 primary schools in the LA are rated Outstanding. Its nearest Outstanding neighbour is Cunningham Hill Junior School, which shares the same site, providing a natural progression route for pupils after Year 2.

The school offers a wide range of facilities for such a young age group, including a Forest School, sensory room, library, ICT suite, art studios, and music rooms. Sports provision covers cricket, netball, tennis, athletics, dance, football, and rounders, while clubs include gardening, coding, science club, drama, and choir. SEND provisions are well-documented, covering specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, multi-sensory impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. This combination of strong Ofsted grades, high local demand, and a broad enrichment offer makes Cunningham Hill Infant School a particularly strong fit for families in St Albans who want a well-regarded start to their child’s education, especially those who value outdoor learning and a structured transition to the adjacent junior school.

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