Loreto College is an 11–18 voluntary aided comprehensive Roman Catholic school for girls located near the centre of St Albans

St Albans

St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...

, Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

, which achieved Specialist Status in the Humanities in 2005.

The College has around 800 pupils on its roll, including 190 in the sixth form with many pupils coming from a wide geographical area. It expanded to 5 forms of entry (from 4 in previous years) from September 2007.

In 2006 the College was rated "Outstanding" by Ofsted

Ofsted

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....

, achieving grade one in all categories.

History

Founded by the Loreto Sisters

Sisters of Loreto

The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, more commonly known as the Loreto Sisters , is a women's Catholic religious order founded by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609 at Saint-Omer in northern France...

, the college had just seven pupils when it first opened in 1922. In 2008 loreto celebrated Mary Ward's 400th birthday