SF School Facts UK

Girls secondary school in Ilford, Redbridge

The Ursuline Academy Ilford

Morland Road, Ilford, Essex, IG1 4JU

Sixth form Roman Catholic Girls
School website 02085541995

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 24 February 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

56.1 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

62% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

84% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.8 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

28% 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 10%.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.75confidence interval 0.49 to 1.01

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
C-
Average points per entry
28.3

England average 32.3

A level students
50

Pupils

Pupils on roll
743
Places
760
How full
Nearly full — 743 of 760 places taken
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
35%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
24%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
58%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
1%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
5%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
97%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
97%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
0%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
79%
No sustained destination
1%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
126

After sixth form

Went to university
80%

England 50%

In education, work or training
85%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
59

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

21% 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
90%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
61

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 Redbridge 026A, 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
42%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
20%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
38%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
13%

England 17%

Households with no car
40%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
38%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Girls
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
THE URSULINE ACADEMY ILFORD
Headteacher
Headteacher: Fiona Stone
Local authority
Redbridge
Ward
Valentines
Constituency
Ilford North
URN
137418

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Read Academy EducationOther independent school No grade 0.1 mi
Apex Secondary School for GirlsOther independent school No grade 0.3 mi
Apex Secondary School for BoysOther independent school No grade 0.3 mi
Seven Kings SchoolCommunity school No grade 57.3 0.8 mi
Valentines High SchoolCommunity school No grade 59.3 0.8 mi
Ark Isaac Newton AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 56.7 1 mi
The Palmer Catholic AcademyAcademy converter No grade 48.8 1.1 mi
Little Ilford SchoolCommunity school Good 2022 47.6 1.2 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
Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities CollegeCommunity school Outstanding 2024 49.7
Harrow Way Community SchoolCommunity school Good 2022 44.4
Alder Grange SchoolCommunity school No grade 37
Fernwood SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 53.8
Oakwood High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 47.5
Ingleby Manor Free SchoolFree schools Good 2022 52.2
Dorset Studio SchoolStudio schools Good 2024 34.1
Malet LambertAcademy converter Good 2023 41.9

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.