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Hertfordshire County Council

Priority areas – secondary and upper schools

How priority areas are used

Priority areas are used by schools that use our admission rules. Some foundation schools and academies also use our rules and priority areas to prioritise applications.

Your child is not guaranteed a place at a school in your priority area but they will be considered before children living outside the priority area.

Within each priority area, children who apply to their nearest school will be considered under Rule 4.  "Nearest school" in this context means their nearest Hertfordshire maintained school or academy which is:

  • non-faith

  • co-educational (accepts boys and girls)

  • non-partially selective (doesn't offer places based on academic ability).


List of secondary school priority areas

Priority areaVillages, towns and parishesSecondary schools

1. Hitchin

Hexton, Hitchin, Holwell, Ickleford, Langley, Lilley, Offley, Pirton, Preston, St Ippolyts, Wymondley.

The Priory

2. Letchworth Garden City

 

 Letchworth

Fearnhill

Highfield

3. Baldock and surrounding villages

Ashwell, Baldock, Bygrave, Caldecote, Clothall, Edworth, Hinxworth, Newnham, Radwell, Rushden, Sandon, Wallington, Weston.

The Knights Templar

4. Buntingford, Puckeridge and Royston

Anstey, Ardeley, Aspenden, Barkway, Barley, Braughing, Brent Pelham, Buckland, Buntingford, Cottered, Great Munden, Hormead, Kelshall, Meesden, Nuthampstead, Reed, Royston, Standon, Therfield, Westmill, Wyddial.

 

5. Stevenage

Aston, Benington, Datchworth, Graveley, Great Ashby, Knebworth, Stevenage, Walkern.

The Barclay

Barnwell

Marriotts

The Nobel

The Thomas Alleyne

6. Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley, Berkhamsted, Tring, Garston, Watford, Chorleywood and Rickmansworth

Abbots Langley, Aldbury, Berkhamsted, Bovingdon,   Chipperfield, Chorleywood, Croxley Green, Flaunden,  Great Gaddesden, Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley, Little Gaddesden, Nash Mills, Nettleden with Potten End, Northchurch, Rickmansworth (part) / Maple Cross, Sarratt, Tring, Tring Rural, Watford, Wigginton.       

The Astley
Cooper

Laureate Academy

The Hemel Hempstead

Kings
Langley

Longdean

Westfield Academy

 7. Harpenden and St Albans

Ayot St Lawrence, Colney Heath, Flamstead, Harpenden, Harpenden Rural, Kimpton, King’s Walden, London Colney, Markyate, Redbourn, Sandridge, St Michael, St Pauls Walden, St Stephen, St Albans, Shenley, Wheathampstead.

Beaumont

Katherine Warington School

Roundwood Park

Samuel Ryder Academy

Sir John Lawes

8. Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Potters Bar and Brookmans Park

Ayot St Peter, Codicote, Essendon, Hatfield, North Mymms, Potters Bar, South Mimms-Ridge, Welwyn Garden City, Welwyn, Woolmer Green.

Monks Walk

Onslow St
Audreys

Ridgeway Academy

Stanborough

9. Ware and Hertford

Bayford, Bengeo Rural, Bramfield, Brickendon Liberty, Great Amwell, Hertford, Hertford Heath, Hertingfordbury, Hunsdon, Little Berkhamsted, Little Munden, Sacombe, Stanstead St Margarets, Stapleford, Tewin, Thundridge, Ware, Wareside, Watton-at-Stone, Widford.

  

10. Bishop's Stortford and Sawbridgeworth

Albury, Birchanger, Bishop’s Stortford, Eastwick, Elsenham, Furneux Pelham, Gilston, Great Hallingbury, High Wych, Little Hadham, Little Hallingbury, Much Hadham, Sawbridgeworth, Sheering, Stocking Pelham, Thorley.

 

11. Borehamwood, Bushey and Watford Rural

Aldenham, Bushey, Elstree, Borehamwood,
Watford Rural.

 

12. Hoddesdon, Broxbourne, Turnford and Cheshunt

Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Hoddesdon, Nazeing,
Northaw & Cuffley, Stanstead Abbotts,
Waltham Cross.

Robert Barclay

Haileybury Turnford

Find a school's admission rules

Map of priority areas

(press map to enlarge)

Map of secondary school priority areas

 

Single sex schools – priority areas

There are 7 single sex schools in Hertfordshire. All are academies and are responsible for their own admissions, although we allocate places on their behalf.

All use single sex priority areas and most will use parish proportionality (rules based on the size of the parish).

Single sex girls' schools – priority areas

 
Girls' schoolVillages, towns and parishes

Hitchin Girls' School

Codicote, Graveley, Hexton, Hitchin, Holwell, Ickleford, King’s Walden,
Knebworth, Langley, Letchworth, Lilley, Offley, Pirton, Preston, St Ippolyts, St Pauls
Walden, Weston, Wymondley.

St Albans Girls' School

Aldenham, Colney Heath, Harpenden, Kimpton, London Colney, Redbourn, Sandridge,
Shenley, St Albans, St Michael, St Stephen, Wheathampstead. 

Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School

Codicote, Hatfield, Knebworth, North Mymms, Potters Bar, Welwyn, Welwyn Garden
City, Woolmer Green.

Presdales School

Aspenden, Bayford, Bengeo Rural, Bramfield, Brickendon Liberty, Datchworth,
Essendon, Great Amwell, Great Munden, Hertford, Hertford Heath, Hertingfordbury,
Hunsdon, Little Berkhamsted, Little Munden, Much Hadham, Sacombe, Stanstead
Abbotts, Stanstead St Margarets, Stapleford, Tewin, Thundridge, Ware, Wareside,
Watton-at-Stone, Widford. 

Find a school's admission rules


Single sex boys' schools – priority areas

 
 Boys' schoolVillages, towns and parishes

Hitchin Boys' School

Codicote, Graveley, Hexton, Hitchin, Holwell, Ickleford, King’s Walden, Knebworth, Langley, Letchworth, Lilley, Offley, Pirton, Preston, St Ippolyts, St Pauls Walden, Weston, Wymondley.

Verulam School

Aldenham, Colney Heath, Harpenden, Kimpton, London Colney, Redbourn, Sandridge, Shenley, St. Albans, St Michael, St Stephen, Wheathampstead.

Richard Hale School

Bayford, Bengeo Rural, Bramfield, Brickendon Liberty, Datchworth, Essendon, Great Amwell, Great Munden, Hertford, Hertford Heath, Hertingfordbury, Hunsdon, Little Berkhamsted, Little Munden, Sacombe, Stanstead Abbotts, Stanstead St Margarets, Stapleford, Tewin, Thundridge, Ware, Wareside, Watton-at-Stone, Welwyn, Widford, Woolmer Green.

Find a school's admission rules

Parish proportionality rules in single sex schools

After a school offers places under higher admissions rules (for example, children looked after or siblings), they work out how many places are left to offer under the parish proportionality rules.

Each parish in a priority area is allocated a number of places. That number is worked out as follows:

  1. We count the number of applicants living in each parish in the priority area. These are all on time applications and include children qualifying under higher rules.
  2. The number of applications in each parish in the priority area is then divided by the total number of applications from the whole priority area.


Places are then allocated within each parish:

  • first to children where it is their nearest school
  • then on a random basis (if there are any places left).  Every school preference is given an individual random number between 1 and 1 million. If a preference is for a single sex school, this number will be used for this random allocation.

 

Hitchin Boys' School and Hitchin Girls' School use slightly different rules to the above.

More about the single sex allocation process (PDF 224KB)

Find a school's admission rules

 

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