Gracewood Academy
Gracewood Academy is a converter academy in Potters Bar for boys and girls aged 11 to 18. It has 420 pupils and room for 1,082. About 29 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was requires improvement, back in 2022.
Church Road, Rothwell, Potters Bar, EN6 1EZ01707 655512gracewood.futureacademies.orgMs Georgina Charles headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 2 November 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Requires improvement overall.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
79 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England. These are the results of Mount Grace School, the school this one replaced.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025† | 2024† | 2023† | 2022† | 2019† | 2018† | Hertfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 79 | 90 | 69 | 94 | 111 | 107 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 36.1 | 42.2 | 39.6 | 42.2 | 41.5 | 45.9 | 50.9 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -0.47 | -0.18 | -0.49 | -0.39 | -0.10 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 27% | 30% | 30% | 24% | 22% | 36% | 53% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 47% | 60% | 48% | 53% | 47% | 56% | 72% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.01 | 3.53 | 3.22 | 3.29 | 3.34 | 3.60 | 4.58 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 29% | 26% | 25% | 17% | 22% | 24% | 47% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 25.1 | 30.3 | 33.1 | 37.9 | 32.8 | 34.9 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 38.7 | 45.4 | 42.8 | 43.5 | 43.8 | 48.2 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 22.7 | 27.1 | 32.6 | 23.3 | 29.5 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 65.1 | 60.8 | 60.4 | 56.1 | 58.6 | – | – |
† These results are for Mount Grace School, the school this one replaced in December 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 1 of the 3 gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
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: Autistic spectrum disorder (25), emotional and mental health (20), Other difficulty or disability (12), Specific learning difficulty (11), language and communications needs (4), Moderate learning difficulty (1).
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 86.8% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25† | 2023/24† | 2022/23† | 2021/22† | 2020/21† | 2018/19† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 13.2% | 12.7% | 10.0% | 12.4% | 8.2% | 6.0% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 8.2% | 7.8% | 6.5% | 8.3% | 5.4% | 4.0% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 5.0% | 4.9% | 3.6% | 4.1% | 2.8% | 2.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 40.5% | 39.9% | 32.2% | 43.8% | 23.2% | 15.9% | 23.9% |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for Mount Grace School, the school this one replaced in December 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
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 secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dame Alice Owen's School | Academy | 1.3 miles | 1,467 | Outstanding 2023 | 99 | Compare |
| Chancellor's School | Academy | 1.7 miles | 1,241 | Good 2023 | 57 | Compare |
| JCoSS | Jewish | 3.4 miles | 1,356 | Good 2022 | 88 | Compare |
| Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet | Academy (grammar) | 3.5 miles | 1,321 | Outstanding 2022 | 100 | Compare |
| Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School | Academy | 3.6 miles | 1,078 | Report card 2026 | 88 | Compare |
| Ark Pioneer Academy | Free school | 3.9 miles | 1,107 | Outstanding 2023 | 89 | Compare |
| Onslow St Audrey's School | Academy | 4.3 miles | 787 | Good 2023 | 17 | Compare |
| Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School | Academy | 4.3 miles | 942 | Outstanding 2022 | 80 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Gracewood Academy a good school?
Gracewood Academy doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it requires improvement at its last inspection in November 2022.
What is Gracewood Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Gracewood Academy requires improvement at its last full inspection on 2 November 2022.
How good are Gracewood Academy's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 27% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 36.1, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished about half a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Gracewood Academy have?
420 pupils aged 11 to 18 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,082 places, so it is 39% full.
What is attendance like at Gracewood Academy?
Pupils were in school 86.8% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 41% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Gracewood Academy?
The average class had 22.5 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 6% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Gracewood Academy have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Church Road, Rothwell, Potters Bar, EN6 1EZ
- Telephone
- 01707 655512
- Website
- www.gracewood.futureacademies.org
- Headteacher
- Ms Georgina Charles
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-18, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Future Academies (11 schools)
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Ward
- Potters Bar Parkfield
- Constituency
- Hertsmere
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 December 2025 (fresh start)
- URN
- 152099 · LAESTAB 9194040 · UKPRN 10099774
- Formerly
- Mount Grace School
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.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- 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.