Verulam School, St Albans

In 2026, pupils at Verulam School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 54.4, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 50.6 in Hertfordshire and 47 across England.

64% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 53% in Hertfordshire and 47% in England.

That is up from 52.5 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.4: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 45, against 56 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 11 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Business Studies and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 80 families put Verulam School as their first choice and 436 named it as one of their preferences, for 184 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Verulam School are Loreto College (0.6 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 56.2); Beaumont School (0.7 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 63); Sandringham School (1.1 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 65.7); and Samuel Ryder Academy (1.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 52.4).

Verulam School's 2026 results were higher than 1 of these 4 schools.

Verulam School is one of 11 schools run by Ambition Education Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 53.2 in 2024/25.

Of the 181 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 91% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 20% to a further education college and 1% into work.

Of the 106 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 64% went on to university or other higher education, 5% to apprenticeships and 17% into work. 28% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

13.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 164 pupils (16.6%) received SEN support and 13 (1.3%) 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.

The nearest railway station is St Albans City Rail Station, about 950 metres away (roughly a 12-minute walk).

4 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Harlesden Road (near), 320 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Verulam 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 330 crimes within a mile of the school, most often anti-social behaviour, violence and sexual offences and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Hertfordshire (138), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Verulam School issued 84 suspensions, 8.5 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The primary schools closest to Verulam School are Fleetville Infant and Nursery School (0.2 miles), Fleetville Junior School (0.3 miles), St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School & Nursery (0.4 miles) and Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.