Roundwood Park School
Academy converter in Harpenden, AL5 3AE, taking ages 11 to 18, 1,421 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 2.11 miles Hertfordshire published for latest published year, as the checker measures.
Opened on this device and kept on it only: just their postcodes are sent, to this site, to measure them.
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Will an address get in?
In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 2.11 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.
How this compares: every Hertfordshire school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 2.11 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.
Roundwood Park School: 2.11 miles Wood End School: 1.71 miles, published by Hertfordshire
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Roundwood Park School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.
Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.
Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary. The labels on the map are postcode districts whose centre falls inside both circles; each opens the district's guide.
The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.
Source: Hertfordshire, published admission distances
Where Roundwood Park School and Wood End School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Wood End School admitted from 1.71 miles in the latest published year, published by Hertfordshire. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside both published distances, cheapest first by the median of real sales around each district's centre. The cheapest is AL5 at £465,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.
| District | Area | From Roundwood Park School | From Wood End School | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL5 | St Albans | 0.9 mi | 1.4 mi | £465,000 82 sales |
Sold prices from HM Land Registry, via each district's area guide. Distances measured from each district's centre to each school's point on the Department for Education register.
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Drop Wood End School and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Hertfordshire, 109 of 519 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (21.0%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.
Other schools nearby with a published distance
The closest schools to Roundwood Park School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roundwood Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 4.09 mi | 0.0 mi |
| Wood End School Both in reach | Primary | 1.71 mi | 0.6 mi |
| Harpenden Academy Both in reach | Primary | 5.57 mi | 0.9 mi |
| Manland Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.35 mi | 1.1 mi |
| Sir John Lawes School Both in reach | Secondary | 0.64 mi | 1.2 mi |
| Crabtree Infants' School Both in reach | Primary | 0.38 mi | 1.4 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Non-selective |
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Has a sixth form |
| How full | 1,421 pupils in 1,179 places (121% full, over capacity) |
| Trust | ROUNDWOOD PARK SCHOOL ACADEMY TRUST |
| Local authority | Hertfordshire |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Outstanding, inspected 15 January 2024 |
| Attainment 8 | 59.5 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | +0.79 |
| 2022/23 | +0.54 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Roundwood Park School
| Girls and boys | 46.5% girls, 53.5% boys |
| English as an additional language | 8.9% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 6.4% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where Roundwood Park School's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 73.3% |
| Sixth-form college | 0.0% |
| Further education college | 20.5% |
| Apprenticeship | 0.5% |
| Employment | 0.5% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 1.9% |
DfE destination measures, 2022/23. Broad categories only: the DfE does not publish which named schools or colleges pupils moved to.
What it costs to live within reach of Roundwood Park School
Cheapest district inside the 2.11 miles: AL5, median £465,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| AL5 | St Albans | 0.9 mi | £465,000 82 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 2.11 miles the school admitted from in the latest published year, cheapest first, by the median of real sales around each district's centre. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list. Districts without enough recorded sales to rank are not shown.
How this compares across England: what a tight gate costs, school by school.
Source: HM Land Registry sold prices, via each district's area guide
Getting to Roundwood Park School by bus
Best-served stop: Roundwood Park School, 0.1 mi away, with 0.2 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 08:17, last 15:30.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roundwood Park School | 0.1 mi | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 366 |
These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.
Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing Roundwood Park School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around AL5: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at AL5 3AE, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for Roundwood Park School?
Roundwood Park School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in the latest published year lived 2.11 miles away, per Hertfordshire.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Roundwood Park School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 2.11 miles was enough in the latest published year, and at 121% full the school has little slack. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.
Does buying a house near Roundwood Park School guarantee a place?
No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.
Every Hertfordshire school's distance
All Hertfordshire schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put Roundwood Park School's figure on your own site
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Admission distance published by Hertfordshire. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.