What did Ofsted judge Roundwood Park School's overall effectiveness to be?

Ofsted judged Roundwood Park School's overall effectiveness as Outstanding at its inspection in November 2023, on Ofsted's own scale.

How many pupils attend Roundwood Park School?

Roundwood Park School has 1,421 pupils on roll.

What ages does Roundwood Park School take?

Roundwood Park School admits pupils aged 11 to 18.

Where is Roundwood Park School located?

Roundwood Park School is located in Harpenden, AL5 3AE, Hertfordshire.

How do I apply to Roundwood Park School?

Roundwood Park School is a state school. In England you apply through the council where you live, using its common application form, even if the school is in another council area. The national closing date for secondary places is 31 October.

How close do you need to live to get into Roundwood Park School?

On offer day for 2026-27 (Year 7), the furthest place offered at Roundwood Park School was 2.11 miles from the school. That is the distance the last place reached in one year, not a boundary and not a guarantee — it moves with the number of applicants.

How are Year 7 places decided at Roundwood Park School?

When Roundwood Park School has more applications than places for 2027-28, they are offered in a published order of priority: 1. Looked after / previously looked after children — Children looked after and children who were previously looked after, including those who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Previously looked after children are those who were looked after but ceased to be so because of being adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order; 2. Medical or social need — Children for whom it can be demonstrated that they have a particular medical or social need to go to the school. A panel of HCC officers will determine whether the evidence provided is sufficiently compelling to meet the requirements for this rule; 3. Sibling — Children who have a sibling at the school at the time of application, unless the sibling is in the last year of the normal age range of the school, and 4 further criteria. The school offers 189 places at this entry point. Tie-break: Where there is a need for a tiebreak where two different addresses are the same distance from a school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be on the ground floor and therefore closer. If there are two identical addresses of separate applicants, the tie break will be random. Every child entered onto the HCC admissions database has an individual random number assigned, between 1 and 1 million, against each preference school. When there is a need for a final tiebreak the random number is used to allocate the place, with the lowest number given priority.

What is the largest ethnic background at Roundwood Park School?

According to the DfE School Census 2025-26, 72.8% of pupils at Roundwood Park School are recorded as White British. The full ethnic breakdown across all groups is available on the Pupils tab.

Roundwood Park School: Ofsted, Results & Catchment 2026

School AtlasHertfordshire

Hertfordshire

School AtlasHertfordshire

Hertfordshire

How close did you need to live?

2.11miles

was the furthest place offered on offer day for 2026-27 (Year 7). That is how far the last place reached in ONE year — not a boundary, and not a guarantee. It moves with the number of applicants, so treat it as a guide rather than a line on a map.

Last distance offered at Roundwood Park School, year by year →

How places are decided at Roundwood Park School

When there are more applications than places for 2027-28 (Year 7), places are offered in this order of priority. Meeting a higher criterion beats meeting a lower one.

1Looked after / previously looked after children — Children looked after and children who were previously looked after, including those who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Previously looked after children are those who were looked after but ceased to be so because of being adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order.
2Medical or social need — Children for whom it can be demonstrated that they have a particular medical or social need to go to the school. A panel of HCC officers will determine whether the evidence provided is sufficiently compelling to meet the requirements for this rule.
3Sibling — Children who have a sibling at the school at the time of application, unless the sibling is in the last year of the normal age range of the school.
4Children of staff — The school will admit a child of a member of staff provided that the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made or where the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
5Priority area – nearest non-faith co-educational non-partially selective school — Children who live in the priority area and for whom it is their nearest Hertfordshire maintained school or academy that is non-faith, co-educational and non-partially selective.
6Priority area – nearest to school — Children who live in the priority area who live nearest to the school.
7Outside priority area – distance — Children living outside the priority area on the basis of distance, with those living nearest to the school given priority.

If two applications tie: Where there is a need for a tiebreak where two different addresses are the same distance from a school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be on the ground floor and therefore closer. If there are two identical addresses of separate applicants, the tie break will be random. Every child entered onto the HCC admissions database has an individual random number assigned, between 1 and 1 million, against each preference school. When there is a need for a final tiebreak the random number is used to allocate the place, with the lowest number given priority.

EHCP children naming the school are admitted before oversubscription criteria as required by the funding agreement. Priority Area 7 (Harpenden and St Albans) applies to Rules 5 and 6, covering named parishes. The document also sets separate Sixth Form (Year 12) admission arrangements with PAN 40 and its own ordered oversubscription criteria (Looked after/previously looked after; Medical or Social; Sibling; Children of staff; Nearest distance), using Haversine distance calculation and a different tiebreak (all students offered places if tied).

Published by the admission authority. Meeting a criterion never guarantees a place — it sets the order places are offered in. Full detail, other entry points and previous years are on the Admissions tab.

Roundwood Park School: key facts

What did Ofsted judge Roundwood Park School's overall effectiveness to be?: Ofsted judged Roundwood Park School's overall effectiveness as Outstanding at its inspection in November 2023, on Ofsted's own scale.
How many pupils attend Roundwood Park School?: Roundwood Park School has 1,421 pupils on roll.
What ages does Roundwood Park School take?: Roundwood Park School admits pupils aged 11 to 18.
Where is Roundwood Park School located?: Roundwood Park School is located in Harpenden, AL5 3AE, Hertfordshire.
How do I apply to Roundwood Park School?: Roundwood Park School is a state school. In England you apply through the council where you live, using its common application form, even if the school is in another council area. The national closing date for secondary places is 31 October.
How close do you need to live to get into Roundwood Park School?: On offer day for 2026-27 (Year 7), the furthest place offered at Roundwood Park School was 2.11 miles from the school. That is the distance the last place reached in one year, not a boundary and not a guarantee — it moves with the number of applicants.
How are Year 7 places decided at Roundwood Park School?: When Roundwood Park School has more applications than places for 2027-28, they are offered in a published order of priority: 1. Looked after / previously looked after children — Children looked after and children who were previously looked after, including those who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Previously looked after children are those who were looked after but ceased to be so because of being adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order; 2. Medical or social need — Children for whom it can be demonstrated that they have a particular medical or social need to go to the school. A panel of HCC officers will determine whether the evidence provided is sufficiently compelling to meet the requirements for this rule; 3. Sibling — Children who have a sibling at the school at the time of application, unless the sibling is in the last year of the normal age range of the school, and 4 further criteria. The school offers 189 places at this entry point. Tie-break: Where there is a need for a tiebreak where two different addresses are the same distance from a school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be on the ground floor and therefore closer. If there are two identical addresses of separate applicants, the tie break will be random. Every child entered onto the HCC admissions database has an individual random number assigned, between 1 and 1 million, against each preference school. When there is a need for a final tiebreak the random number is used to allocate the place, with the lowest number given priority.
What is the largest ethnic background at Roundwood Park School?: According to the DfE School Census 2025-26, 72.8% of pupils at Roundwood Park School are recorded as White British. The full ethnic breakdown across all groups is available on the Pupils tab.

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How close did you need to live?

2.11miles

Last distance offered at Roundwood Park School, year by year →

How places are decided at Roundwood Park School

When there are more applications than places for 2027-28 (Year 7), places are offered in this order of priority. Meeting a higher criterion beats meeting a lower one.

1Looked after / previously looked after children — Children looked after and children who were previously looked after, including those who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Previously looked after children are those who were looked after but ceased to be so because of being adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order.
2Medical or social need — Children for whom it can be demonstrated that they have a particular medical or social need to go to the school. A panel of HCC officers will determine whether the evidence provided is sufficiently compelling to meet the requirements for this rule.
3Sibling — Children who have a sibling at the school at the time of application, unless the sibling is in the last year of the normal age range of the school.
4Children of staff — The school will admit a child of a member of staff provided that the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made or where the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
5Priority area – nearest non-faith co-educational non-partially selective school — Children who live in the priority area and for whom it is their nearest Hertfordshire maintained school or academy that is non-faith, co-educational and non-partially selective.
6Priority area – nearest to school — Children who live in the priority area who live nearest to the school.
7Outside priority area – distance — Children living outside the priority area on the basis of distance, with those living nearest to the school given priority.

Roundwood Park School: key facts

What did Ofsted judge Roundwood Park School's overall effectiveness to be?: Ofsted judged Roundwood Park School's overall effectiveness as Outstanding at its inspection in November 2023, on Ofsted's own scale.
How many pupils attend Roundwood Park School?: Roundwood Park School has 1,421 pupils on roll.
What ages does Roundwood Park School take?: Roundwood Park School admits pupils aged 11 to 18.
Where is Roundwood Park School located?: Roundwood Park School is located in Harpenden, AL5 3AE, Hertfordshire.
How do I apply to Roundwood Park School?: Roundwood Park School is a state school. In England you apply through the council where you live, using its common application form, even if the school is in another council area. The national closing date for secondary places is 31 October.
How close do you need to live to get into Roundwood Park School?: On offer day for 2026-27 (Year 7), the furthest place offered at Roundwood Park School was 2.11 miles from the school. That is the distance the last place reached in one year, not a boundary and not a guarantee — it moves with the number of applicants.
How are Year 7 places decided at Roundwood Park School?: When Roundwood Park School has more applications than places for 2027-28, they are offered in a published order of priority: 1. Looked after / previously looked after children — Children looked after and children who were previously looked after, including those who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Previously looked after children are those who were looked after but ceased to be so because of being adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order; 2. Medical or social need — Children for whom it can be demonstrated that they have a particular medical or social need to go to the school. A panel of HCC officers will determine whether the evidence provided is sufficiently compelling to meet the requirements for this rule; 3. Sibling — Children who have a sibling at the school at the time of application, unless the sibling is in the last year of the normal age range of the school, and 4 further criteria. The school offers 189 places at this entry point. Tie-break: Where there is a need for a tiebreak where two different addresses are the same distance from a school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be on the ground floor and therefore closer. If there are two identical addresses of separate applicants, the tie break will be random. Every child entered onto the HCC admissions database has an individual random number assigned, between 1 and 1 million, against each preference school. When there is a need for a final tiebreak the random number is used to allocate the place, with the lowest number given priority.
What is the largest ethnic background at Roundwood Park School?: According to the DfE School Census 2025-26, 72.8% of pupils at Roundwood Park School are recorded as White British. The full ethnic breakdown across all groups is available on the Pupils tab.

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Roundwood Park School: key facts

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Roundwood Park School: key facts

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