SF School Facts UK

All-through school in Dagenham, Barking and Dagenham

The Sydney Russell School

Parsloes Avenue, Dagenham, Essex, RM9 5QT

Sixth form
School website 02039599900

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 12 May 2026.

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

51.2 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

53% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

69% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.8 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

72% England 40.8%

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

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is middle, which is where this one sits, it is in the top quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.72confidence interval 0.57 to 0.88

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well above 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
B-
Average points per entry
37.3

England average 32.3

A level students
133

Pupils

Pupils on roll
2568
Places
2670
How full
Nearly full — 2568 of 2670 places taken
Girls / boys
1323 / 1245
Overall absence
5%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
12%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
29%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
33%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
11%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
94%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
92%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
48%
No sustained destination
5%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
338

After sixth form

Went to university
76%

England 50%

In education, work or training
93%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
4%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
94

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

30% 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
88%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
102

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 Barking and Dagenham 007C, 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
31%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
25%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
47%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
36%

England 17%

Households with no car
29%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
33%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
All-through
Ages
Ages 4–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
PARTNERSHIP LEARNING
Headteacher
Headteacher: Clare Cross
Local authority
Barking and Dagenham
Ward
Parsloes
Constituency
Barking
URN
141683

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest all-through schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Jo Richardson Community SchoolCommunity school Outstanding 2024 50.2 1.1 mi
Goresbrook SchoolFree schools No grade 55.6 1.1 mi
Mayfield SchoolFoundation school Good 2024 45 1.2 mi
All Saints Catholic School and Technology CollegeVoluntary aided school Outstanding 2024 56.1 1.3 mi
Robert Clack SchoolCommunity school Good 2023 50.5 1.3 mi
Eastbrook SchoolCommunity school No grade 37.2 1.4 mi
Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities CollegeCommunity school Outstanding 2024 49.7 1.4 mi
Dagenham Park CofE SchoolVoluntary controlled school No grade 42.1 1.4 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded all-through 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
Portchester Community SchoolCommunity school Good 2024 41.8
West Lakes AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 40.8
The Ilfracombe Church of England AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 47.9
Haileybury TurnfordAcademy sponsor led No grade 43.3
Crewe Engineering and Design UTCUniversity technical college No grade 32.4
Reading Girls' SchoolAcademy sponsor led Good 2021 51.8
Peacehaven Community SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 40.1
St Ignatius CollegeVoluntary aided school No grade 54.8

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.