Ofsted: Outstanding trending_up Places Available emoji_events #30 in Hertfordshire public Top 16% UK

William Ransom Primary School

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMr Tony Plunkett

location_onHitchin, SG4 9QB

language Visit Website phone 1462624777

verified

Ofsted

Outstanding

Inspected 2025

groups

Students

419

school

Expected Standard

78%

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Demand Ratio

1.0x

summarize

William Ransom Primary School is a Community school primary school in Hitchin, serving ages 4-11. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted — the highest possible grade. Ranks in the top 16% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

William Ransom Primary School is a community school in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, admitting pupils aged 4-11. The school has approximately 422 pupils on roll, of whom 3% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 78% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 8% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #30 of 334 primaries in Hertfordshire and #2,096 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2025. The school's current overall rating is Outstanding. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Requires improvement, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Requires improvement.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 1.0× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 25.7:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.1 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

78%

LA 61%

Reading87% LA 76%

Writing80% LA 70%

Maths85% LA 73%

Read SS

109

Maths SS

107

GPS SS

109

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

72%

LA 61%England 61%

Reading92% LA 76% · Eng 74%

Writing78% LA 70% · Eng 72%

Maths83% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Read SS

109

Maths SS

106

GPS SS

108

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

68%

LA 59%England 60%

Reading95% LA 74% · Eng 73%

Writing71% LA 69% · Eng 71%

Maths85% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Read SS

111

Maths SS

107

GPS SS

109

Progress (0 = national avg)

3.9

Read

LA 0.3

2.3 to 5.6

-2.5

Write

LA -0.4

-4.0 to -0.9

0.7

Maths

LA -0.1

-0.9 to 2.2

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

79%

LA 65%England 65%

Reading87% LA 75% · Eng 73%

Writing92% LA 78% · Eng 78%

Maths82% LA 78% · Eng 79%

Read SS

107

Maths SS

106

GPS SS

110

Progress (0 = national avg)

2.4

Read

LA -0.1

0.4 to 4.4

1.7

Write

LA -0.5

-0.2 to 3.5

0.3

Maths

LA -0.5

-1.4 to 2.1

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

76%

LA 66%

Reading89% LA 78%

Writing87% LA 78%

Maths84% LA 76%

Read SS

109

Maths SS

106

GPS SS

110

Progress (0 = national avg)

1.9

Read

LA 0.1

0 to 3.8

-0.3

Write

LA -0.5

-2.1 to 1.5

-0.5

Maths

LA -0.4

-2.3 to 1.3

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

18 March 2025

Inspection Report

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04 December 2014

Inspection Report

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03 June 2009

Inspection Report

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03 March 2008

Inspection Report

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14 June 2006

Inspection Report

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04 December 2000

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2025-03-18

S5 Inspection EIF

Not Judged

info

Why no overall grade?

From autumn 2024, Ofsted stopped issuing a single headline grade (Outstanding / Good / RI / Inadequate). Instead, each inspection area is graded individually. This follows a major review after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023. The overall effectiveness field is left as "Not judged" in the published data.

Education

Requires improvement

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Requires improvement

2014-12-04

Exempt School Inspection EIF

Outstanding

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Outstanding

2009-06-03

None EIF

Outstanding

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Outstanding

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.2%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.2%(1 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 422 pupils. During this period, there were 1 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.2%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	422	1	0.2%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	422	0	0.0%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	421	1	0.2%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	422	2	0.5%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	422	1	0.2%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	418	0	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	419	0	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	413	0	0.0%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	404	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	402	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	398	0	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	377	0	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	382	0	0.0%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	380	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	359	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	359	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	358	0	0.0%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	334	0	0.0%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	335	0	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	334	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	314	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	309	0	0.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	309	0	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	293	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	288	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	288	0	0.0%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 16 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 12 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 9 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 4 pupils

Speech, Language & Communication 2 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 2 pupils

Visual Impairment 2 pupils