Local authority · London
Waltham Forest has 25 secondary schools in this dataset — 21 state-funded and 4 independent. 2 are selective, admitting on an entrance test; 5 have a religious character; 13 have a sixth form.
The typical school here posts a three-year Progress 8 of -0.03 (average) — which is level with the national median — as an area it is neither ahead of nor behind the country. That is the middle of the 17 schools in this area with a published score.
The spread inside the area is wider than the gap between areas: from -0.75 to +0.97. Which school a child goes to matters more here than which area you move to.
For 2026 entry the typical school here drew 0.89 first preferences per place — less pressure than the national median of 0.95×. 7 of the 17 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 7.7% 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.
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.
| School | Progress 8 | 95% interval | Attainment 8 | Pressure | Ofsted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eden Girls' School, Waltham ForestFree schools | +0.97well above average | +0.68 to +1.202023–24 | 58.2 | 1.40× | Outstanding (ungraded) |
| 2 | Walthamstow School for GirlsCommunity school | +0.60well above average | +0.22 to +0.642023–24 | 57.9 | 1.34× | Standards maintained (ungraded) |
| 3 | Walthamstow AcademyAcademy sponsor led | +0.51well above average | +0.28 to +0.712023–24 | 53.3 | 1.29× | Good (ungraded) |
| 4 | Norlington School and 6th FormAcademy converter | +0.15average | +0.09 to +0.592023–24 | 52.1 | 0.82× | Good (ungraded) |
| 5 | Connaught School for GirlsAcademy converter | +0.13average | -0.44 to +0.082023–24 | 52.0 | 0.62× | Good (ungraded) |
| 6 | Buxton SchoolFoundation school | +0.02average | -0.05 to +0.472023–24 | 41.8 | 0.64× | Good (ungraded) |
| 7 | Highams Park SchoolAcademy converter | -0.02average | -0.11 to +0.272023–24 | 50.2 | 1.01× | Good |
| 8 | Willowfield SchoolCommunity school | -0.03average | -0.24 to +0.202023–24 | 47.9 | 0.62× | Expected standard (achievement) |
| 9 | George Mitchell SchoolAcademy converter | -0.03average | -0.51 to +0.042023–24 | 45.7 | 0.89× | Good |
| 10 | Chingford Foundation SchoolAcademy converter | -0.14average | -0.32 to +0.042023–24 | 47.0 | 0.71× | Good |
| 11 | Holy Family Catholic SchoolVoluntary aided school | -0.16average | -0.24 to +0.172023–24 | 46.3 | 0.73× | Good |
| 12 | Heathcote School & Science CollegeCommunity school | -0.24below average | -0.58 to -0.162023–24 | 45.1 | 1.15× | Good (ungraded) |
| 13 | Frederick Bremer SchoolCommunity school | -0.25below average | -0.47 to -0.042023–24 | 45.4 | 1.04× | Good (ungraded) |
| 14 | Kelmscott SchoolCommunity school | -0.25below average | -0.56 to -0.102023–24 | 43.3 | 1.05× | Standards maintained (ungraded) |
| 15 | Leytonstone SchoolCommunity school | -0.28below average | -0.37 to +0.032023–24 | 48.8 | 0.95× | Expected standard (achievement) |
| 16 | South Chingford Foundation SchoolAcademy sponsor led | -0.50below average | -1.05 to -0.522023–24 | 39.0 | 0.44× | Needs attention (achievement) |
| 17 | Lammas SchoolAcademy converter | -0.75well below average | -1.03 to -0.522023–24 | 39.5 | 0.49× | Needs attention (achievement) |
1 of the 16 other schools ranked here have a confidence interval that overlaps Eden Girls' School, Waltham Forest'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. 8 schools here have an interval that includes zero (shaded above) — those cannot be told apart from an average school nationally.
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.
| Big Creative Academy | Sixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| Big Creative Independent School | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
| Forest School | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
| Lantern of Knowledge Secondary School | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
| Leyton Sixth Form College | Sixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8 |
| Normanhurst School | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
| Sir George Monoux College | Sixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8 |
| Waltham Forest College | Sixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8 |
The most sought-after school in Waltham Forest for 2026 entry was Eden Girls' School, Waltham Forest at 1.40 first preferences per place — 171 families named it first for 122 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 Waltham Forest 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.Admissions do not stop at an authority line. If you live near one, your realistic list of schools spans both sides of it.
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 Waltham Forest you apply for a state-funded place through the council's coordinated scheme, naming several schools in order of preference.