Batford Nursery School
Batford Nursery School is a local authority nursery school in Harpenden for boys and girls aged 3 to 5. It has 72 pupils. About 0 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2023.
Holcroft Road, Harpenden, AL5 5BQ01582 713872batfordnursery.herts.sch.ukMrs Sarah Hedges headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 19 April 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Outstanding overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Hertfordshire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (2), Other difficulty or disability (1), Physical disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 72 | 78 | 82 | 84 | 83 | 83 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 10% | 10% | 9% | 24% | 6% | 5% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 5% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sauncey Wood Primary School | Council | 120 m | 147 | No overall grade 2025 | 26 | Compare |
| Katherine Warington School | Free school | 530 m | 1,113 | Good 2024 | 68 | Compare |
| Sir John Lawes School | Academy | 740 m | 1,373 | Outstanding 2023 | 96 | Compare |
| Manland Primary School | Council | 800 m | 204 | Good 2024 | 97 | Compare |
| The Lea Primary School and Nursery | Council | 0.7 miles | 239 | No overall grade 2024 | 87 | Compare |
| Crabtree Junior School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 256 | Outstanding 2023 | 98 | Compare |
| St George's School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 1,351 | No overall grade 2025 | 93 | Compare |
| Crabtree Infants' School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 178 | Outstanding 2024 | 99 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Batford Nursery School a good school?
Batford Nursery School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it outstanding at its last inspection in April 2023.
What is Batford Nursery School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Batford Nursery School outstanding at its last full inspection on 19 April 2023.
How many pupils does Batford Nursery School have?
72 pupils aged 3 to 5 were on the roll in January 2026.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Holcroft Road, Harpenden, AL5 5BQ
- Telephone
- 01582 713872
- Website
- www.batfordnursery.herts.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sarah Hedges
- Type of school
- Local authority nursery school (Local authority nursery school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Nursery school, ages 3-5, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Ward
- Harpenden East
- Constituency
- Harpenden and Berkhamsted
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 117068 · LAESTAB 9191006
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.