Preston Primary School
General Information
- Address: Back Lane, Preston, Hitchin, SG4 7UJ – View on map
- Phone: 01462451734
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Jacomina Luitingh
- Age range: 4-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 6 families put it first for 7 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 8 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Church of England
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 2
- % eligible for free school meals: 3.3%
- Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (less mixed than the North Hertfordshire average)
- English as an additional language: 3% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 27.5% a year (North Hertfordshire 16.9%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 28% moved to another school, 72% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)
Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Hertfordshire: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 33 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 13 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 3 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in Hertfordshire (the council area this school is in), not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.
Attendance
- Overall absence: 5.5%
- Persistently absent pupils: 12.7%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 15.0%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 6.7%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
- Other difficulty or disability: 2 pupils
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
- Vision impairment: 1 pupil
- Physical disability: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2024 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 27% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 35 percentage points below the North Hertfordshire average (62%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 48%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 64% · Writing 27% · Maths 55% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 55%
- Average test scores: reading 103, maths 103
- Based on: 11 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
SATs results over time
Year 6 SATs: 40th of 40 junior and primary schools in the area
- #38St Mary's Junior Mixed School35%
- #39Pixmore Junior School30%
- #40Preston Primary School27%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
17th of 29 primary schools in North Hertfordshire for Ofsted rating
- #15Oughton Primary and Nursery SchoolGood
- #16Our Lady Catholic Primary SchoolGood
- #17Preston Primary SchoolGood
- #18Purwell Primary SchoolGood
- #19Reed First SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £10,406 (2024-25)
3rd of 40 primary schools in North Hertfordshire for spending per pupil
- #1Sandon Junior Mixed and Infant School£19,350
- #2Barley (VA) Church of England First School£13,869
- #3Preston Primary School£10,406
- #4St Paul's Walden Primary School£10,201
- #5Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School£9,567
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)