Highams Park School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Waltham Forest
34 Handsworth Avenue, London, E4 9PJ
71
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 22/05/2024
Application demand
96%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
91.9%
25.5% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,592
Capacity used
Nearly full94%
1,700 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
96%
1st preference success rate
199 of 207 families who put it first got an offer
237
Places offered
649
Total applications
2.7
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 207 | 199 | ● 96% |
| 2nd preference | 158 | 26 | ● 16% |
| 3rd preference | 144 | 8 | ● 6% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 140 | 4 | ● 3% |
| Total | 649 | 237 | 37% |
1st preference success by year
Waltham Forest lets families list 6 preferences. 49 applications came from outside the council area (3 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
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Nigel Armsby
- Address
- 34 Handsworth Avenue, Highams Park, London, E4 9PJ
- Phone
- 02085274051
- Local authority
- Waltham Forest
- Ward / constituency
- Hatch Lane & Highams Park North · Chingford and Woodford Green
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 137558
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 25% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 38% | — | — |
| SEN support | 14% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 3 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: HIGHAMS PARK ACADEMY TRUST
1,592 pupils · 1,700 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
22 May 2024
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Outstanding Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good - 23
08 March 2023
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,245 pupils
Attendance
91.9%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.1%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
25.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.3%
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 | 50.0 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.08 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 55% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 73% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.49 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 33.31 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 47.5 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 44.9% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 66.7% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 51.3% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.4 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 234 | — |
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 | 35.99 | 35 |
| Average grade | B- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 17.2% | 17% |
| A-level students | 131 | — |
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 | 232 | 23% | 51% | 73% | |
| English Language | 231 | 19% | 59% | 72% | |
| English Literature | 226 | 15% | 55% | 75% | |
| Combined Science | 175 | 9% | 41% | 61% | |
| History | 121 | 22% | 50% | 56% | |
| French | 104 | 36% | 66% | 85% | |
| Geography | 102 | 28% | 54% | 71% | |
| Business | 101 | 10% | 37% | 52% | |
| Design & Technology | 82 | 11% | 43% | 65% | |
| Biology | 53 | 51% | 100% | 100% | |
| Physics | 53 | 55% | 98% | 100% | |
| Chemistry | 53 | 40% | 94% | 100% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 46 | 15% | 43% | 67% | |
| Sociology | 31 | 3% | 13% | 48% | |
| Biology | 26 | 8% | 23% | 35% | |
| Economics | 26 | 4% | 19% | 54% | |
| Business Studies | 24 | 0% | 21% | 46% | |
| Psychology | 21 | 5% | 43% | 76% | |
| English Language | 20 | 0% | 10% | 45% | |
| Chemistry | 19 | 0% | 11% | 21% | |
| Media / Film / TV Studies | 19 | 0% | 11% | 53% | |
| English Literature | 14 | 14% | 36% | 50% | |
| Computer Science | 13 | 0% | 15% | 38% | |
| Mathematics (Further) | 13 | 8% | 54% | 85% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 11859: Highams Park School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | 7 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | ≤5 |
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) | 64% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 6% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 69% | — | — |
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 Waltham Forest 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.