SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in London, Islington

City of London Academy Islington

Prebend Street, Islington, London, N1 8PQ

Sixth form Full
School website 02072268611

Ofsted

Standards maintained at the last ungraded inspection, on 2 April 2025.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

40.8 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

38% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

51% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.5 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

22% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the bottom quarter of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.13confidence interval -0.09 to 0.36

Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
C
Average points per entry
30.2

England average 32.3

A level students
31

Pupils

Pupils on roll
852
Places
805
How full
Full — 852 pupils against 805 places
Girls / boys
382 / 470
Overall absence
14%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
38%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
70%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
39%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
5%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
8%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
90%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
88%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
41%
No sustained destination
6%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
155

After sixth form

Went to university
65%

England 50%

In education, work or training
85%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
6%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
34

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

28% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
77%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
43

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Islington 018E, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
47%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
18%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
18%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
54%

England 17%

Households with no car
74%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
35%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy sponsor led
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
CITY OF LONDON ACADEMIES TRUST
Headteacher
Principal: Laurence Glees
Local authority
Islington
Ward
St Mary's & St James'
Constituency
Islington South and Finsbury
URN
135587

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
North Bridge House Senior Canonbury SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.5 mi
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson SchoolCommunity school No grade 52.7 0.7 mi
St Paul's Waldorf SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.8 mi
Waterside AcademyFree schools No grade 44.6 0.9 mi
Central Foundation Boys' SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 55.2 0.9 mi
St Mary Magdalene AcademyAcademy sponsor led Outstanding 2023 59.3 0.9 mi
City of London Academy Highbury GroveAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 45.4 0.9 mi
The Bridge AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 56.9 1.1 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Dixons Brooklands AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 36.1
Clifton Community SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 29.4
Waverley Studio CollegeStudio schools Good 2022 21.9
Oasis Academy Don ValleyAcademy sponsor led No grade 36.8
Benfield SchoolAcademy converter No grade 33.5
Lift GreenwoodAcademy sponsor led No grade 31.8
Harris Academy ClaphamFree schools Good 2023 42.4
Hartsdown AcademyAcademy converter No grade 32.1

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.