Mary Exton Primary School

About Mary Exton Primary School

Parents considering Mary Exton Primary School will find a school that is clearly popular locally, with 59 applications for just 10 places in the 2025/26 admissions round. That works out to an oversubscription ratio of 5.9, meaning nearly six families applied for every available spot. Of those, eight were first-preference offers, suggesting strong demand from families who really want a place here. The school is a state primary for mixed genders aged 5 to 11, with a current roll of 170 pupils against a capacity of 210, so there is some physical room to grow. It sits in North Hertfordshire under Hertfordshire local authority and has no religious character. Leadership is shared by Angharad Paterson and Tracy Clements as joint headteachers.

Academically, the picture is mixed. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022, the school was rated Good across all categories, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership. This was a clear improvement from its previous inspection in 2019, when it was rated Requires Improvement overall. At Key Stage 2 in 2023/24, 33% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, well below the local authority average of 64%. However, average scores in reading (107) and maths (104) were both above the national benchmark of 100, and 10% of pupils achieved the higher standard across all three subjects. The school ranks 37th out of 38 primary schools in North Hertfordshire on the combined expected standard metric, placing it in the bottom tier locally and nationally.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a sports hall, outdoor playground, art studios, music rooms and a chapel. Sports provision covers rounders, netball, football, cricket and tennis, while clubs include coding, drama, book club, choir, chess and gardening. SEND support is well-developed, with provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication issues, hearing impairment, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. This breadth of support, combined with the school’s smaller size and improved Ofsted rating, makes it a realistic option for families who value a close-knit environment and are willing to navigate the competitive admissions process. The nearest outstanding-rated alternative is St Andrew's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School in Hitchin, about a kilometre away.

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