St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery
St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery is a converter academy in St Albans for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 410 pupils and room for 459. About 8 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School, Cecil Road, St Albans, AL1 5EG01727 866668ssas.herts.sch.ukMs Tess Hackett headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 7 November 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Results
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
60 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. These are the results of St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery, the school this one replaced.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025† | 2024† | 2023† | 2019† | 2018† | 2017† | Hertfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 60 | 60 | 59 | 60 | 59 | 59 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 78% | 70% | 75% | 78% | 73% | 86% | 64% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | 17% | 13% | 14% | 12% | 10% | 24% | 10% | 8% |
| Reading scoreReading average scaled score | 110.0 | 110.0 | 110.0 | 109.0 | 109.0 | 109.0 | 106.6 | 105.6 |
| Maths scoreMaths average scaled score | 107.0 | 108.0 | 106.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 | 105.2 | 104.6 |
| Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score | 109.0 | 110.0 | 108.0 | 110.0 | 109.0 | 110.0 | 106.1 | 105.2 |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | 92% | 88% | 88% | 95% | 97% | 92% | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | 85% | 88% | 83% | 88% | 86% | 90% | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | 82% | 73% | 81% | 80% | 75% | 92% | – | – |
| Reading progressReading progress score | – | – | +3.4 | +3.3 | +2.0 | +2.1 | – | – |
| Maths progressMaths progress score | – | – | +0.6 | +1.0 | +0.3 | +1.3 | – | – |
| Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged | – | 29% | 56% | 50% | 50% | – | – | – |
| Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged | – | 75% | 78% | 81% | 75% | – | – | – |
There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.
† These results are for St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery, the school this one replaced in January 2026. 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 2 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 the end of primary school, 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. As a Roman Catholic school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
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.
Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 23.4 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 29.1 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (27), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (14), Autistic spectrum disorder (8), Specific learning difficulty (7), language and communications needs (5), Hearing impairment (2).
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.4% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25† | 2023/24† | 2022/23† | 2021/22† | 2020/21† | 2018/19† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 3.6% | 4.3% | 4.5% | 4.3% | 3.0% | 3.2% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.1% | 3.6% | 3.7% | 3.6% | 2.6% | 2.6% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.5% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 4.7% | 5.8% | 7.6% | 6.8% | 5.5% | 3.3% | 12.8% |
† These attendance figures are for St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery, the school this one replaced in January 2026. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Money
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 primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fleetville Junior School | Academy | 410 m | 358 | Good 2023 | 93 | Compare |
| Fleetville Infant and Nursery School | Academy | 630 m | 304 | Outstanding 2023 | 99 | Compare |
| Cunningham Hill Junior School | Council | 700 m | 236 | Outstanding 2024 | 100 | Compare |
| Cunningham Hill Infant School | Council | 700 m | 180 | Outstanding 2024 | 100 | Compare |
| Camp Primary and Nursery School | Council | 830 m | 228 | Good 2023 | 81 | Compare |
| Windermere Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 134 | No overall grade 2025 | 6 | Compare |
| Maple Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 214 | Report card 2026 | 95 | Compare |
| St Peter's School | Council | 0.7 miles | 392 | Good 2023 | 83 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery a good school?
St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in November 2023.
What is St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery good at its last full inspection on 7 November 2023.
How good are St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery's SATs results?
In summer 2025, 78% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 17% went further and reached the higher level.
How many pupils does St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery have?
410 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 459 places, so it is 89% full.
What is attendance like at St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery?
Pupils were in school 96.4% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 5% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery?
The average class had 27.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 7% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School, Cecil Road, St Albans, AL1 5EG
- Telephone
- 01727 866668
- Website
- www.ssas.herts.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Ms Tess Hackett
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic, Archdiocese of Westminster
- Multi-academy trust
- All Saints Catholic Academy Trust (14 schools)
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Ward
- Clarence
- Constituency
- St Albans
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 January 2026 (academy converter)
- URN
- 151983 · LAESTAB 9193421 · UKPRN 10098556
- Formerly
- St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery
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.
- Year 6 results: DfE key stage 2 tables, 2024/25.
- 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.
- 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.