School profile
Samuel Ryder Academy
Drakes Drive, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 5AR
Overview
Samuel Ryder Academy is a state-funded school (academy sponsor led) in St Albans, East of England, for pupils aged 4–19. This summary is generated only from official structured fields.
School details
- Official establishment type
- Academy sponsor led
- Establishment group
- Academies
- Phase of education
- All-through
- Age range
- Ages 4–19
- Gender of entry
- Mixed
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Sixth form
- Yes
- School capacity
- 1,520
- Pupils on roll
- 1,577
- URN
- 138582
Admissions
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Academy trust or group
- SCHOLARS' EDUCATION TRUST
Contact the school or your local authority for catchment and application deadlines.
School places
DfE school capacity survey · May 2025 (2024/25)
- Capacity at survey date
- 1,540
- Pupils on roll
- 1,575
- Unfilled places at survey date
- 0
A dated snapshot from the Department for Education school capacity survey, separate from the school details above. Unfilled places at the survey date do not mean places are currently available for admission. About this data
Official admissions data
Applications & demand
Preferences expressed by families through coordinated admissions, shown over time.
2026/27 admissions · Year 7
- First preferences
- 140
- Total preferences
- 670
- Offers made
- 140
Times the school was named as a family's first preference.
All recorded preference positions for this school.
Offers recorded through coordinated admissions, not physical capacity.
First preferences compared with offers
1 first preferences per offer
140 first preferences and 140 offers were recorded for 2026/27.
What does this mean?
This is the Department for Education's own published comparison of first preferences with total offers recorded. It indicates the level of requests made through coordinated admissions. Offers are not necessarily the school's maximum capacity, admissions arrangements vary between local authorities, the figure is not a measure of school quality, and it should not be used on its own to judge the likelihood of gaining a place.
First preferences over time
Latest five available admissions years. Missing years are not estimated.
Admissions history
| Admissions year | First preferences | Total preferences | Offers made |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026/27 | 140 | 670 | 140 |
| 2025/26 | 134 | 714 | 145 |
| 2024/25 | 151 | 763 | 142 |
| 2023/24 | 173 | 778 | 167 |
| 2022/23 | 144 | 764 | 144 |
Source: Department for Education · Applications and offers data.
Official performance data
School performance
Official Department for Education results for this school. Results are shown for the academic year they relate to.
2024/25 results
Reading, writing & maths — meeting the expected standard
- School
- 80%
- England
- 62%
Pupils included: 60
Reading, writing & maths — achieving a higher standard
- School
- 20%
- England
- 8%
Pupils included: 60
Source: Department for Education · School performance data.
Official inspection data
Ofsted inspections
Inspection information published by Ofsted, shown in Ofsted's own words.
Ofsted report card
Inspected 21 April 2026 · Published 9 July 2026
Renewed education inspection framework
- Safeguarding standards
- Met
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Early years (where applicable)
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision (where applicable)
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
Previous inspection information
Ofsted inspection
Inspected 29 June 2022 · Published 26 September 2022
Overall effectiveness: Good
Safeguarding was effective: Yes
Ofsted changed how it inspects and reports on schools in November 2025. Judgements from the previous and current frameworks use different systems and should not be directly compared.
School Nest shows the inspection information Ofsted currently publishes for this school. It is not a complete record of every inspection the school has ever had.
Source: Ofsted · Inspections and outcomes. Official Ofsted page for this school
Location
- Address
- Drakes Drive, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 5AR
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
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