City of London Academy, Highgate Hill
Secondary · Free schools · Mixed · Islington
Holland Walk, Duncombe Road, London, N19 3EU
65
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 15/05/2024
Application demand
99%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
92.7%
17.8% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
641
Capacity used
Has space71%
900 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
99%
1st preference success rate
71 of 72 families who put it first got an offer
90
Places offered
233
Total applications
2.6
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 72 | 71 | ● 99% |
| 2nd preference | 47 | 8 | ● 17% |
| 3rd preference | 39 | 4 | ● 10% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 75 | 3 | ● 4% |
| Total | 233 | 86 | 37% |
1st preference success by year
Islington lets families list 6 preferences. 31 applications came from outside the council area (9 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
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Prince Gennuh
- Address
- Holland Walk, Duncombe Road, Archway, London, N19 3EU
- Phone
- 02072813536
- Local authority
- Islington
- Ward / constituency
- Hillrise · Islington North
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 143659
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 63% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 38% | — | — |
| SEN support | 14% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: CITY OF LONDON ACADEMIES TRUST
641 pupils · 900 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
15 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
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 607 pupils
Attendance
92.7%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.3%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
17.8%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.8%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
5.3%
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 | 45.5 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.12 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 46% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 64% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.20 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 46.00 | — | — |
Average grade: A- (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 40.3 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 33% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 57.4% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 44.3% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.64 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 115 | — |
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 | 45.56 | 35 |
| Average grade | A- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 32% | 17% |
| A-level students | 25 | — |
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 | 115 | 12% | 40% | 64% | |
| English Language | 115 | 6% | 41% | 63% | |
| English Literature | 112 | 13% | 45% | 66% | |
| Combined Science | 99 | 7% | 37% | 52% | |
| Geography | 42 | 2% | 38% | 52% | |
| Art and Design | 41 | 17% | 51% | 68% | |
| History | 32 | 47% | 66% | 75% | |
| French | 26 | 8% | 62% | 85% | |
| Spanish | 25 | 12% | 40% | 68% | |
| Business | 25 | 20% | 68% | 80% | |
| Social Studies | 21 | 24% | 62% | 71% | |
| Computer Science | 20 | 5% | 55% | 60% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 12 | 17% | 67% | 92% | |
| Chemistry | 11 | 9% | 27% | 55% | |
| Psychology | 11 | 45% | 45% | 91% | |
| Biology | 10 | 20% | 60% | 90% | |
| Economics | 10 | 0% | 60% | 100% | |
| Government and Politics | 9 | 11% | 33% | 89% | |
| English Literature | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| History | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Physics | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Sociology | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #124 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 20175: City of London Academy, Highgate Hill
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | 7 |
| Offers | 6 |
| Success rate | 86% |
| 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.
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 Islington 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.