Lanchester Primary School, Watford
Lanchester Primary School is a primary school for pupils aged 4 to 11 in Watford, part of Danes Educational Trust. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in July 2019. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in November 2024 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 17th-highest of the 29 schools in Watford with published results, and 6,591st of 14,452 across England. It was 80% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- In line with England
- Ofsted
- Good (2019)
- Demand
- Oversubscribed
- 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
Lanchester Primary School in detail
Lanchester Primary School in its own words
In its own words: "Thank you for taking the time to look at our wonderful school site. Our Primary School is in the heart of Watford, a vibrant and thriving community. We are situated in a beautiful and unique listed building that is a well-known landmark in the town centre."
Clubs and activities named on the school's website include yoga and chess.
The school runs after-school care.
Vision and values (school website)Clubs (school website)Wraparound care (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 76% of Year 6 pupils at Lanchester Primary 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 rose from 65% in reading and 68% in maths in 2024.
Getting a place at Lanchester Primary School
For September 2026 entry, 33 families put Lanchester Primary School as their first choice and 123 named it as one of their preferences, for 30 places offered. That is 1.1 first choices for every place. 7 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Admissions history and your chances at Lanchester Primary School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to Lanchester Primary School are Chater Infant School (0.5 miles, Good); Watford St John's Church of England Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 80% reading, 72% maths); Chater Junior School (0.5 miles, Outstanding, 78% reading, 75% maths); and Nascot Wood Infant and Nursery School (0.7 miles, Good).
Lanchester Primary School's 2025 results were higher than all 2 of them.
Chater Infant SchoolWatford St John's Church of England Primary SchoolChater Junior SchoolNascot Wood Infant and Nursery School
The trust
Lanchester Primary School is one of 13 schools run by Danes Educational Trust, an academy trust.
Across the trust's primary schools, 68% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024/25.
What parents say
74 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Lanchester Primary School (as of September 2025): 74% would recommend the school, 89% say their child is happy there and 68% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (91%); the weakest, that the school has high expectations for their child (68%).
Who goes there
13.1% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 50% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
The largest ethnic groups are Asian (28%), White British (22%) and Mixed (12%).
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Watford Junction Rail Station, about 780 metres away (roughly a 10-minute walk).
11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Stratford Road (opposite), 180 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Lanchester Primary School stands in is among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
In August 2026, police recorded 702 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Hertfordshire (138), as is usual near a town centre.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Lanchester Primary School issued 9 suspensions, 2.7 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to Lanchester Primary School are Watford Grammar School for Boys (0.5 miles), Watford Grammar School for Girls (0.7 miles), Westfield Academy (1 mile) and Croxley Danes School (1.2 miles).
Watford Grammar School for BoysWatford Grammar School for GirlsWestfield AcademyCroxley Danes 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
Our estimate from how close the nearest similar schools are and how oversubscribed the council's schools are. It is not a published boundary.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from July 2019, 7 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Latest (ungraded) inspection: Standards have been maintained.
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's November 2024 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
Lanchester Primary is a warm, inclusive community where all children are valued and supported to succeed. The school excels at teaching reading and has dramatically improved behaviour through clear expectations and consistent rewards. Teachers know individual pupils well and adapt learning for those with additional needs, ensuring no child is left behind.
Key Strengths
- Strong love of reading established from early years with consistent phonics teaching and targeted support for pupils who fall behind
- Effective behaviour management with a clear policy that has significantly reduced suspensions
- Well-structured curriculum that logically sequences learning from Reception onwards
- Excellent support for pupils with SEND, with prompt identification and effective teaching adaptations
- Inclusive school culture where pupils learn about diverse faiths and cultures
Areas for Improvement
- Teaching activities do not always help pupils practise and secure knowledge effectively enough - teachers need more expertise to ensure consistent progress across the curriculum
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective and the school has created an open, positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils' interests first.
Extracurricular Activities
Junior leadership team (learning ambassadors, eco-councillors), weekly question debates, weekly assemblies celebrating school values
Lanchester Primary School has maintained good standards since its previous inspection in 2019. The school is a caring community where pupils are happy, respectful, and well-behaved.
At a Glance
13.1%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
74 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 improved from 65% to 76% (2024 to 2025). Maths has improved from 68% to 81% (2024 to 2025). Writing has improved from 58% to 83% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
27.1
Avg class size
29.5
Infant (KS1)
26.2
KS2
10
Total classes
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Keep up with Lanchester Primary School
Before and after school care
Clubs on Ofsted's childcare register at or near Lanchester Primary School.
- Kidz Zone Club - Lanchester Primary SchoolAt the school · Not yet graded
- Watford Mencap Children Centre800m away · Not yet graded
Term dates
Lanchester Primary School is a free school, 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
Train Stations
Tube / Metro / Tram
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Lanchester Primary School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Lanchester Primary 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
- 51
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 8
- Children hurt
- 5
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 51 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 8 serious and 43 slight.
5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on foot, 1 on a bicycle and 3 in a vehicle or otherwise.
12 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 Lanchester Primary School
Will you get a place at Lanchester Primary School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Lanchester Primary School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Lanchester Primary School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Lanchester Primary School.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Hertfordshire, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Lanchester Primary School for 2015 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
80%
Available places
335 pupils
420 places
85 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Watford
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Watford
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: Oversubscribed
Inspection History(3)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
34
SEN Support
12
EHC Plans
15.4%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
298
Total Pupils
165
Boys
133
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
16
Teachers
18.6:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£47,904
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£5,277
Per pupil
£1910k
Total funding
£64k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
5.5%
Overall absence
14.8%
Persistent absence
344
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
Questions parents ask about Lanchester Primary School
What are SATs results like at Lanchester Primary School?
Of the pupils at Lanchester Primary School who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 76% reached the expected standard in reading and 81% did so in maths.
What is Lanchester Primary School's Ofsted rating?
Lanchester Primary School's most recent Ofsted inspection, in November 2024, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in July 2019, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for Lanchester Primary School?
No fixed boundary. When Lanchester Primary 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 Lanchester Primary School?
Lanchester Primary School was not full in 2025: it ran at 80% of its 420 places.
How big are the classes at Lanchester Primary School?
Classes at Lanchester Primary School average 27.1 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to Lanchester Primary School?
Lanchester Primary School has around 298 pupils on roll. 13% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Lanchester Primary School?
5.5% of sessions were missed at Lanchester Primary School in 2024/25. 14.8% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Lanchester Primary School?
Apply through Hertfordshire's coordinated admissions process, naming Lanchester Primary 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 Lanchester Primary School have a breakfast club or after-school club?
Ofsted's childcare register lists an out-of-school club at the school: Kidz Zone Club - Lanchester Primary School (registered, not yet graded). There is another within a kilometre. The school may also run its own clubs, which don't have to register with Ofsted.
How many road collisions happen near Lanchester Primary School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 51 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 8 serious and 43 slight. 5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on foot, 1 on a bicycle and 3 in a vehicle or otherwise. 12 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 Lanchester Primary School?
Lanchester Primary School is at Hempstead Road, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD17 3HD.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)