Harwood Hill Junior Mixed Infant and Nursery School

About Harwood Hill Junior Mixed Infant and Nursery School

Harwood Hill Junior Mixed Infant and Nursery School in Welwyn Hatfield holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across both its most recent inspections. The school’s most recent graded inspection took place in 2017, and an ungraded inspection in 2023 confirmed that it remains Good. The strongest single metric for academic outcomes at this primary is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined (RWM), which sits at 72 per cent. That figure is comfortably above the Hertfordshire local authority average of 64 per cent for similar schools, placing Harwood Hill in the top half of primary schools in the county. In the Welwyn Hatfield area specifically, the school ranks 11th out of 34 primary schools, putting it in the top third locally. Nationally, it sits in the 25th percentile, which is a solid mid-table performance for a state primary.

Digging into the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, the school performs particularly well in reading, where the average scaled score is 107 and 38 per cent of pupils achieved the higher standard. In maths, the average scaled score is 106, with 28 per cent reaching the higher standard and 83 per cent meeting the expected standard. Writing is slightly lower, with 79 per cent at expected and 17 per cent at the higher standard. The combined RWM higher standard figure is 14 per cent, which is respectable but not exceptional. Ofsted’s breakdown from the 2017 graded inspection rated leadership and management as Outstanding, while the quality of education, early years provision and behaviour and attitudes were all judged Good. The early years provision was also rated Good in the 2017 inspection. There is no Progress 8 data available for this primary, so it is not possible to compare pupil progress directly, but the attainment figures suggest a school that delivers solid, above-average outcomes for its pupils.

Harwood Hill is a smaller-than-average primary with 181 pupils against a capacity of 240, and it is oversubscribed: for 2025/26, there were 65 applications for 20 places, with 17 first-preference offers made. The oversubscription ratio of 3.25 means competition is real, so families should plan accordingly. The school has a nursery provision for children aged three and above, and offers a broad range of facilities including a sports hall, gymnasium, dining hall, forest school and a chapel. Clubs include coding, chess, film club, gardening, science club and book club, and sports on offer are football, cricket, dance and swimming. For SEND, the school supports seven categories including specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 27.8 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a diverse intake. This is a solid, well-led primary that suits families looking for strong core academic results in a smaller setting with good SEND support and a forest school programme.

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