Forest Hill School
Secondary · Community school · Boys · Lewisham
Dacres Road, London, SE23 2XN
72
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 13/12/2023
Application demand
89%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
93.0%
18.9% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,080
Capacity used
Has space70%
1,535 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
89%
1st preference success rate
106 of 119 families who put it first got an offer
171
Places offered
463
Total applications
2.7
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 119 | 106 | ● 89% |
| 2nd preference | 93 | 38 | ● 41% |
| 3rd preference | 78 | 13 | ● 17% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 173 | 14 | ● 8% |
| Total | 463 | 171 | 37% |
1st preference success by year
Lewisham lets families list 6 preferences. 140 applications came from outside the council area (38 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Community school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Boys
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Michael Sullivan
- Address
- Dacres Road, Forest Hill, London, SE23 2XN
- Phone
- 02086999343
- Local authority
- Lewisham
- Ward / constituency
- Perry Vale · Lewisham West and East Dulwich
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 100745
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 27% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 23% | — | — |
| SEN support | 23% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
1,080 pupils · 1,535 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
13 December 2023
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 898 pupils
Attendance
93.0%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.0%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
18.9%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.7%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.1%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 50.5 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.30 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 55% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 75% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.65 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 35.18 | — | — |
Average grade: B- (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 52.3 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 58.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 73.2% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 39.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.81 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 179 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 34.1 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 8.8% | 17% |
| A-level students | 71 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 180 | 31% | 64% | 77% | |
| English Language | 180 | 30% | 62% | 78% | |
| English Literature | 177 | 24% | 70% | 83% | |
| Combined Science | 129 | 5% | 41% | 62% | |
| Geography | 123 | 33% | 63% | 72% | |
| History | 75 | 37% | 68% | 73% | |
| Business | 71 | 11% | 51% | 58% | |
| Art and Design | 58 | 22% | 52% | 67% | |
| French | 51 | 49% | 88% | 92% | |
| Biology | 48 | 65% | 96% | 98% | |
| Physics | 47 | 70% | 100% | 100% | |
| Chemistry | 47 | 64% | 100% | 100% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 27 | 4% | 30% | 52% | |
| Economics | 18 | 11% | 11% | 50% | |
| History | 16 | 0% | 38% | 81% | |
| Psychology | 14 | 0% | 7% | 21% | |
| Geography | 13 | 8% | 15% | 69% | |
| Sociology | 13 | 8% | 31% | 62% | |
| Physics | 12 | 0% | 17% | 25% | |
| English Literature | 11 | 9% | 27% | 55% | |
| Government and Politics | 11 | 18% | 64% | 91% | |
| Biology | 9 | 0% | 0% | 44% | |
| Chemistry | 8 | 0% | 0% | 38% | |
| Business Studies | 8 | 0% | 13% | 13% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 12024: Forest Hill School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 55% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 3% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 62% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Lewisham council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.