Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School, St Albans
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School is a primary school for pupils aged 5 to 11 in St Albans, part of Ambition Education Trust. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 27th-highest of the 32 schools in St Albans with published results, and 6,110th of 14,452 across England. It was 89% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- In line with England
- Demand
- Every first choice offered
- Attendance
- In line with England
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 81 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Hertfordshire (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School in detail
Results
In 2025, 78% of Year 6 pupils at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School reached the expected standard in reading and 81% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 79% and 76% in Hertfordshire and 77% and 75% across England.
Results were similar in 2024 (80% in reading, 82% in maths).
Getting a place at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School
For September 2026 entry, 26 families put Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School as their first choice and 67 named it as one of their preferences, for 26 places offered. That is one first choice for every place. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.
Admissions history and your chances at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School are Bernards Heath Junior School (0.4 miles, Good, 83% reading, 84% maths); Margaret Wix Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 65% reading, 70% maths); Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School (0.5 miles, Good); and Maple Primary School (0.6 miles, Good, 93% reading, 96% maths).
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School's 2025 results were higher than 1 of these 3 schools.
Bernards Heath Junior SchoolMargaret Wix Primary SchoolBernards Heath Infant and Nursery SchoolMaple Primary School
The trust
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School is one of 11 schools run by Ambition Education Trust, an academy trust.
Across the trust's primary schools, 79% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024/25.
What parents say
175 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School (as of September 2025): 83% would recommend the school, 95% say their child is happy there and 50% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that their child is happy at the school (95%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (50%).
Who goes there
14.7% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.
In 2026, 93 pupils (21.6%) received SEN support and 7 (1.6%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is St Albans City Rail Station, about 1 mile away in a straight line.
2 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is The Ancient Briton (opposite), 270 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School stands in is among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School issued 3 suspensions, 0.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School are St Albans Girls' School (0.5 miles), Townsend Church of England School (0.7 miles), Loreto College (0.9 miles) and Sandringham School (1.3 miles).
St Albans Girls' SchoolTownsend Church of England SchoolLoreto CollegeSandringham School
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE multi-academy trust performance data; Ofsted Parent View; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Every family who put it first was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance did not limit places that year.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoOverall
Latest (ungraded) inspection: Standards have been maintained.
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School has had no graded Ofsted inspection since it took its current form in September 2021. Before that, as Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School (URN 117139), it was rated Good in November 2013.
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's December 2024 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
Garden Fields excels at creating a welcoming, inclusive environment where every child feels valued and supported. The school has strong systems for identifying and supporting pupils with additional needs, and places high priority on reading development. Staff build positive relationships with pupils and maintain consistently high behaviour expectations, while also nurturing their emotional development through outdoor learning spaces and targeted well-being support.
Key Strengths
- Highly inclusive culture where all pupils feel welcome and part of a strong community
- Excellent support for pupils with SEND, who are fully included and receive effective targeted help
- Reading is prioritized from Reception through Year 6, with careful book matching and swift support for struggling readers
- Calm and respectful behaviour throughout the school, with high staff expectations that pupils respond to positively
- Strong focus on pupils' broader development including mental health and well-being through outdoor spaces and emotional support
Areas for Improvement
- Foundation subject curriculum not yet fully embedded - pupils struggle to make connections between prior and current learning
- In some foundation subjects, opportunities for pupils to retrieve and build on subject-specific skills over time need to be refined
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with the school creating an open and positive culture that puts pupils' interests first.
Extracurricular Activities
Breakfast club, after-school club, outdoor wooded learning area, school dog
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School has maintained its good standards since the previous inspection. The school has developed a highly inclusive culture where pupils are happy, safe and enjoy learning.
At a Glance
14.7%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
175 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has remained stable at around 78% (2024 to 2025). Maths has remained stable at around 81% (2024 to 2025). Writing has declined from 86% to 77% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
27.3
Avg class size
27.3
Infant (KS1)
27.3
KS2
12
Total classes
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Keep up with Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School
Before and after school care
Clubs on Ofsted's childcare register at or near Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School.
- ABC Breakfast & XYZ After School Club700m away · Not yet graded
- Rising Stars Activities760m away · Not yet graded
- Neurokind Space780m away · Not yet graded
- St Albans Coaching870m away · Not yet graded
- FizzBug @ St Saviour's970m away · Not yet graded
Term dates
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School is an academy, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Hertfordshire's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School is in Hertfordshire; for families living there:
- Hertfordshire's school travel policy: Read the home to school transport policy
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 16
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 5
- Children hurt
- 2
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 16 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 5 serious and 11 slight.
2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on a bicycle and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise.
3 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Hertfordshire is 9 (the median across 590 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School
Will you get a place at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Hertfordshire, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School for 2022 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Hertfordshire got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
89%
Available places
482 pupils
540 places
58 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - St Albans
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for St Albans
Across Hertfordshire council
Places available
14,776
Applications
12,543
Got 1st preference
89.1%
Got preferred school
98.4%
All primary applications across Hertfordshire council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Every first choice offered
Inspection History
Ungraded inspection: Standards have been maintained.
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
93
SEN Support
7
EHC Plans
23.3%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
430
Total Pupils
211
Boys
219
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
25
Teachers
17.2:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£51,867
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£4,965
Per pupil
£2594k
Total funding
£88k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
4.8%
Overall absence
10.7%
Persistent absence
449
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School
Questions parents ask about Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School
What are SATs results like at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School?
Of the pupils at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 78% reached the expected standard in reading and 81% did so in maths.
What is Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School has had no graded Ofsted inspection since it took its current form in September 2021. Before that, as Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School (URN 117139), it was rated Good in November 2013.
What is the catchment area for Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School?
No fixed boundary. When Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School is oversubscribed, Hertfordshire allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School?
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School was not full in 2025: it ran at 89% of its 540 places.
How big are the classes at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School?
Classes at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School average 27.3 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School?
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School has around 430 pupils on roll. 15% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School?
4.8% of sessions were missed at Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School in 2024/25. 10.7% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School?
Apply through Hertfordshire's coordinated admissions process, naming Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School on your application. Applications for Reception places starting in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are made on Friday 16 April 2027.
Does Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School have a breakfast club or after-school club?
Ofsted's childcare register lists 5 out-of-school clubs within a kilometre of Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School: ABC Breakfast & XYZ After School Club (700m away, registered, not yet graded), Rising Stars Activities (760m away, registered, not yet graded) and Neurokind Space (780m away, registered, not yet graded). The school may also run its own clubs, which don't have to register with Ofsted.
How many road collisions happen near Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 16 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 5 serious and 11 slight. 2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on a bicycle and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise. 3 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Hertfordshire is 9 (the median across 590 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School?
Garden Fields Junior Mixed and Infant School is at Townsend Drive, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 5RL.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)