Wapping High School
Secondary · Free schools · Mixed · Tower Hamlets
153 Commercial Road, London, E1 2DA
67
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 21/11/2023
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
90.2%
34.5% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
248
Capacity used
Has space59%
420 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
18 of 18 families who put it first got an offer
34
Places offered
149
Total applications
4.4
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 18 | 18 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 35 | 7 | ● 20% |
| 3rd preference | 45 | 5 | ● 11% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 51 | 2 | ● 4% |
| Total | 149 | 32 | 21% |
1st preference success by year
Tower Hamlets lets families list 6 preferences. 9 applications came from outside the council area (4 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
- Free schools
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Tom Raw
- Address
- 153 Commercial Road, London, E1 2DA
- Phone
- 02035973671
- Local authority
- Tower Hamlets
- Ward / constituency
- Whitechapel · Bethnal Green and Stepney
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 138202
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 38% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 60% | — | — |
| SEN support | 11% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: THE WAPPING AND SHADWELL SECONDARY EDUCATION TRUST
248 pupils · 420 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
21 November 2023
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessPersonal development Outstanding Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 333 pupils
Attendance
90.2%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.8%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
34.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
5.4%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
5.9%
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 | 46.9 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.04 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 56% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 69% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.98 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 46.9 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 44.6% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 70.8% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 50.8% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.33 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 65 | — |
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.
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 | 63 | 24% | 51% | 73% | |
| English Language | 63 | 16% | 52% | 59% | |
| English Literature | 63 | 40% | 68% | 76% | |
| Combined Science | 49 | 10% | 31% | 47% | |
| Geography | 41 | 22% | 59% | 68% | |
| History | 29 | 28% | 55% | 66% | |
| Spanish | 26 | 38% | 73% | 77% | |
| Art and Design | 26 | 4% | 19% | 31% | |
| Computer Science | 17 | 12% | 41% | 47% | |
| Drama | 14 | 0% | 29% | 36% | |
| Biology | 14 | 43% | 86% | 93% | |
| Physics | 14 | 21% | 86% | 93% |
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 Tower Hamlets 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.