Links Academy
Links Academy is an academy alternative provision converter in St Albans for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 10 pupils and room for 40. About 70 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
1 Hixberry Lane, St Albans, AL4 0TZ01727 836150linksacademystalbans.co.ukDavid Allen headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 25 May 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good 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: emotional and mental health (5), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 10 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 70% | 60% | 80% | – | 75% | 43% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 10% | 20% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 60% | 100% | 0% | 100% | 57% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 29% |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 7 pupils who left in 2020/21 were a year later.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School | Academy | 380 m | 1,134 | Outstanding 2023 | 95 | Compare |
| Oaklands College | Further education | 780 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Beaumont School | Academy | 790 m | 1,722 | No overall grade 2025 | 96 | Compare |
| Oakwood Primary School | Council | 0.6 miles | 317 | Good 2024 | 82 | Compare |
| Camp Primary and Nursery School | Council | 0.7 miles | 228 | Good 2023 | 81 | Compare |
| Windermere Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 134 | No overall grade 2025 | 6 | Compare |
| Fleetville Infant and Nursery School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 304 | Outstanding 2023 | 99 | Compare |
| Fleetville Junior School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 358 | Good 2023 | 93 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Links Academy a good school?
Links Academy doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in May 2023.
What is Links Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Links Academy good at its last full inspection on 25 May 2023.
How many pupils does Links Academy have?
10 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 40 places, so it is 25% full.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- 1 Hixberry Lane, St Albans, AL4 0TZ
- Telephone
- 01727 836150
- Website
- linksacademystalbans.co.uk
- Headteacher
- David Allen
- Type of school
- Academy alternative provision converter (Academy alternative provision converter, academies)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Links Multi Academy Trust (2 schools)
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Ward
- Hill End
- Constituency
- St Albans
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 February 2013 (academy converter)
- URN
- 139197 · LAESTAB 9191106 · UKPRN 10040055
- Formerly
- The Links Education Support Centre
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.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 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.