Secondary schools in Camden

Local authority · London

Camden has 24 secondary schools in this dataset — 14 state-funded and 10 independent. 3 are selective, admitting on an entrance test; 2 have a religious character; 21 have a sixth form.

How the area compares

The typical school here posts a three-year Progress 8 of -0.07 (average) — 0.06 of a grade per subject below the national median of -0.01. That is the middle of the 10 schools in this area with a published score.

The spread inside the area is wider than the gap between areas: from -0.36 to +0.71. Which school a child goes to matters more here than which area you move to.

For 2026 entry the typical school here drew 0.74 first preferences per place — less pressure than the national median of 0.95×. 3 of the 10 schools with published figures were named first by more families than they had places for. A high figure means popular, not good, and it is not your chance of a place — that depends on where you live.

Overall absence runs at 8.4% for the typical school here, below the national median of 8.7%. Absence is a plainer signal of whether pupils are turning up and engaged than any grade average.

The schools, ranked

Ordered on the three-year average Progress 8, which is steadier than any single year. Read the confidence interval beside each score before you read the order: it is the range the school's true figure is likely to sit in, and a wide one means a small year group rather than an unpredictable school.

Progress 8 and Attainment 8 are three-year averages (2021–22 to 2023–24). Admissions pressure is first preferences per place for 2026 entry. The Ofsted column mixes three regimes — a legacy overall grade, a 2025 report-card achievement grade, and the outcome of an ungraded inspection — which are not the same judgement; each school's own page says which it has.
SchoolProgress 895% intervalAttainment 8PressureOfsted
1The Camden School for GirlsVoluntary aided school+0.71well above average+0.36 to +0.892023–2466.62.19×Good
2Parliament Hill SchoolCommunity school+0.68well above average+0.28 to +0.722023–2460.81.02×Outstanding
3La Sainte Union Catholic Secondary SchoolVoluntary aided school+0.18average-0.06 to +0.422023–2450.80.45×Good (ungraded)
4Regent High SchoolCommunity school+0.02average-0.49 to -0.052023–2446.40.73×Good (ungraded)
5The UCL AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.02average-0.38 to +0.062023–2448.80.46×Good
6Hampstead SchoolCommunity school-0.12average-0.66 to -0.252023–2444.30.75×Good
7Haverstock SchoolCommunity school-0.17average-0.44 to +0.042023–2445.30.82×Standards maintained (ungraded)
8William Ellis SchoolVoluntary aided school-0.21below average-0.43 to +0.092023–2450.30.66×
9Acland Burghley SchoolCommunity school-0.25below average-0.51 to -0.092023–2450.41.25×Good (ungraded)
10Maria Fidelis Catholic School FCJVoluntary aided school-0.36below average-0.83 to -0.332023–2442.10.61×Needs attention (achievement)

2 of the 9 other schools ranked here have a confidence interval that overlaps The Camden School for Girls's. On these figures they cannot be told apart from the school at the top of the table, and the order between them is not a finding. 4 schools here have an interval that includes zero (shaded above) — those cannot be told apart from an average school nationally.

Schools with no Progress 8 score

These are not bottom of the table — they are not in it. A school with no published score has not done badly; the measure was not calculated for it, and the reason differs.

Alleyns Hampstead Senior SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Capital City CollegeNo Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort
City LitSixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8
College Francais Bilingue De LondresIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Guildhouse SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Hampstead Fine Arts CollegeIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Jeannine Manuel SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
LSI Independent CollegeIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Maria Montessori SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
South Hampstead High School GDSTIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
St Margaret's SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
The Mary Ward Centre (AE Centre)Sixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8
University College SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
WM CollegeSixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8

Where the competition is

The most sought-after school in Camden for 2026 entry was The Camden School for Girls at 2.19 first preferences per place — 254 families named it first for 116 places.

Pressure is not a chance of admission. A school with two applicants per place can still admit every family living near it, while a less popular school further away turns you down. Distance from the gate is usually what decides it, and no national figure can tell you that for your own address.

See Camden on the map →The same schools on a map, with every filter: results, admissions pressure, Ofsted, faith and selection — or sorted by distance from your own postcode.

Nearby areas

Admissions do not stop at an authority line. If you live near one, your realistic list of schools spans both sides of it.

What this page doesn't tell you

The results here are for 2023–24 and earlier, so they describe pupils who have already left. Nothing on this page covers sixth-form results, pastoral care, music, sport or drama, or how a school feels to walk around — which is what parents most often say settled it. The ranking is a starting point for a shortlist, not a verdict on a school.

Nor is it a prediction of a place. Admission depends on each school's criteria and, most often, on how far you live from it — and in Camden you apply for a state-funded place through the council's coordinated scheme, naming several schools in order of preference.