What schools serve Hitchin?

There are 33 schools in Hitchin, Central Bedfordshire, including Shillington Lower School, Roecroft Lower School, York Road Nursery School, Highbury Infant School and Nursery, Strathmore Infant and Nursery School and more. You can view each school's catchment area guidance and admissions policy on catchment.school.

How many primary and secondary schools are in Hitchin?

Hitchin has 27 primary schools and 3 secondary schools. There are also 3 other schools (such as all-through or special schools) in the area. All data is sourced from the Department for Education's GIAS register.

How do I find out if my address is in a school's catchment area in Hitchin?

To check whether your address falls within a school's catchment area in Hitchin, use the postcode search tool at catchment.school. Catchment area boundaries for Hitchin schools are set by Central Bedfordshire and reviewed each year. You can also consult the school's admissions policy or contact the Central Bedfordshire admissions team directly for the most up-to-date boundary maps.

Who sets catchment area boundaries for schools in Hitchin?

Catchment area boundaries for schools in Hitchin are set by Central Bedfordshire as the admissions authority. Community and voluntary-controlled schools follow the council's published admissions policy, while academies and voluntary-aided schools may set their own. Boundaries are reviewed annually and published each September for the following academic year.

Schools in Hitchin

Reviewed by the catchment.school editorial team · Last updated 15 March 2026

Hitchin and its surrounding villages in Central Bedfordshire have 33 schools - 27 primaries and three secondaries. Ten schools carry a faith designation, mainly Church of England, which is strong across the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire borders. Only five schools have converted to academy status, making Hitchin's educational landscape more authority-coordinated than many comparable towns.

Central Bedfordshire Council administers admissions for the majority of Hitchin's schools using distance-from-school criteria after looked-after children and those with siblings. The three secondary schools in the area - drawing from a large rural catchment - can be heavily subscribed. Parents should note that the historic Hertfordshire border creates some anomalies in catchment zones for villages straddling the two counties.

School demand in Hitchin

Across the 32 schools in Hitchin with published capacity data, the average fill rate is 89%. 7 of them are currently at or above their published admission number, and at those schools catchment distance is likely to decide places at the next intake.

10 schools in Hitchin have a religious character, so faith criteria sit alongside catchment distance in their admissions policies.

5 of the schools in Hitchin are academies that set their own admissions criteria independently of Central Bedfordshire, so check each school's policy directly rather than assuming the council default applies.

13 of the schools in Hitchin have a current Ofsted rating, of which 12 are rated Good or Outstanding. Demand and catchment distance tend to be tightest at the highest-rated schools.

Primary schools in Hitchin: 7 oversubscribed (27)

Shillington Lower School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG5 3NX

Ages 2-9 104 pupils Capacity 150

Roecroft Lower School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG5 4PF

Ages 5-9 395 pupils Capacity 450

Highbury Infant School and Nursery

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG4 9AG

Ages 3-7 214 pupils Capacity 240

Strathmore Infant and Nursery School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG5 1XR

Ages 3-7 187 pupils Capacity 206

Highover Junior Mixed and Infant School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG4 0JP

Ages 3-11 434 pupils Capacity 450

Kimpton Primary School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG4 8RB

Ages 3-11 145 pupils Capacity 210

Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG4 8NP

Ages 4-11 80 pupils Capacity 105

Pirton School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG5 3PS

Ages 4-11 135 pupils Capacity 175

St Paul's Walden Primary School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG4 8HX

Ages 4-11 66 pupils Capacity 105

Wymondley Junior Mixed and Infant School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG4 7HN

Ages 4-11 101 pupils Capacity 105

Purwell Primary School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG4 0PU

Ages 3-11 163 pupils Capacity 243

Whitehill Junior School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG4 9HT

Ages 7-11 241 pupils Capacity 240

William Ransom Primary School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG4 9QB

Ages 4-11 422 pupils Capacity 420

Mary Exton Primary School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG4 0QA

Ages 5-11 170 pupils Capacity 210

Samuel Lucas Junior Mixed and Infant School

Primary · Community school

Hitchin · SG5 2JQ

Ages 4-11 419 pupils Capacity 420