Schools in Waltham Forest
83 schools in the Waltham Forest local authority.
Schools
83
Open schools
Pupils
43,161
2025–26 census
Good or better
96%
71 of 74 graded
Academic Performance
6.9
out of 10 · 81 schools
Ofsted ratings
- Outstanding
- 17 23%
- Good
- 54 73%
- Requires improvement
- 3 4%
- Inadequate
- 0 0%
4 inspected since 2024, no overall grade8 superseded by a report card5 not judged
6.9
Academic PerformanceAveraged over 81 of 83 schools that can be scored
Pupils
43,161
pupils on roll
Boys 51%49% Girls
Ethnicity
White
42%Asian
23%Black
15%Mixed
14%Chinese
<1%Any other group
4%Unclassified
1%Ethnicity from 78 of 83 schools (41,103 pupils). Independent schools report roll and sex only.
Pupil characteristics
- Free school meals
- 26.3%
- First language not English
- 40.1%
- Young carers
- <1%
10,823 of 41,103 pupils · 78 of 83 schools
16,466 of 41,103 pupils · 78 of 83 schools
188 of 40,819 pupils · 75 of 83 schools
Schools by phase
- Primary
- 51
- Secondary
- 17
- All-through
- 2
- Special
- 4
- Nursery
- 3
- PRU
- 3
- Not recorded
- 3
Top primary schools in Waltham Forest
The 20 highest-scoring primary schools here on Academic Performance, which combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment.
- 1.Riverley Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary10.0/10Outstanding
- 2.St Mary's CofE Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary10.0/10Outstanding
- 3.St Saviour's Church of England Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary10.0/10Outstanding
- 4.Willow Brook Primary School AcademyWaltham Forest · Primary10.0/10Outstanding
- 5.Yardley Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary10.0/10Outstanding
- 6.Davies Lane Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary9.9/10Outstanding
- 7.Selwyn Primary School Waltham Forest · Primary9.8/10Outstanding
- 8.Sybourn Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary9.8/10Outstanding
- 9.Barclay Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary9.7/10Outstanding
- 10.South Grove Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary9.7/10Outstanding
- 11.The Woodside Primary AcademyWaltham Forest · Primary9.5/10Outstanding
- 12.Roger Ascham Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary9.0/10Good
- 13.Woodford Green Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary9.0/10
- 14.Ainslie Wood Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary8.8/10Good
- 15.Greenleaf Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary8.8/10Good
- 16.Coppermill Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary8.6/10Good
- 17.Oakhill Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary8.6/10
- 18.St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary8.6/10Good
- 19.Thomas Gamuel Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary8.6/10Good
- 20.Gwyn Jones Primary SchoolWaltham Forest · Primary8.4/10Good
Top secondary schools in Waltham Forest
The highest-scoring secondary schools here on Academic Performance, which combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment.
- 1.Eden Girls' School, Waltham ForestWaltham Forest · Secondary9.9/10Outstanding
- 2.Walthamstow School for GirlsWaltham Forest · Secondary9.8/10Outstanding
- 3.Connaught School for GirlsWaltham Forest · Secondary7.5/10
- 4.Walthamstow AcademyWaltham Forest · Secondary7.3/10Good
- 5.Norlington School and 6th FormWaltham Forest · Secondary7.1/10Good
- 6.Chingford Foundation SchoolWaltham Forest · Secondary6.7/10Good
- 7.Leytonstone SchoolWaltham Forest · Secondary6.7/10Good
- 8.Willowfield SchoolWaltham Forest · Secondary6.7/10Good
- 9.George Mitchell SchoolWaltham Forest · Secondary6.6/10Good
- 10.Highams Park SchoolWaltham Forest · Secondary6.6/10Good
- 11.Frederick Bremer SchoolWaltham Forest · Secondary6.4/10Good
- 12.Heathcote School & Science CollegeWaltham Forest · Secondary6.1/10Good
- 13.Holy Family Catholic SchoolWaltham Forest · Secondary5.9/10Good
- 14.Buxton SchoolWaltham Forest · Secondary5.7/10Good
- 15.Kelmscott SchoolWaltham Forest · Secondary3.4/10Good
- 16.South Chingford Foundation SchoolWaltham Forest · Secondary1.5/10Good
- 17.Lammas SchoolWaltham Forest · Secondary0.1/10Requires improvement
Browse all 83 schools in Waltham Forest — filter by phase or Ofsted rating.
About schools in Waltham Forest
- How many schools are there in Waltham Forest?
- Waltham Forest has 83 open schools — 51 primary, 17 secondary, 4 special, 3 nursery, teaching 43,161 pupils in total.
- How many schools in Waltham Forest are rated Good or Outstanding?
- 71 of the 74 schools holding an Ofsted grade — 96% — are rated Good or Outstanding, including 17 rated Outstanding. That share is measured against graded schools, not all 83: a school inspected since September 2024 has no overall grade at all.
- What is the average Academic Performance in Waltham Forest?
- 6.9 out of 10, averaged across the 81 schools here that can be scored, where 5 is the national average. Academic Performance combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment and is ranked against comparable schools, so it is neither figure on its own.
- Why do some Waltham Forest schools have no Ofsted rating?
- 9 schools in Waltham Forest currently hold no overall grade. Ofsted stopped awarding single-word judgements in September 2024 and moved to a report card of separately graded areas, so schools inspected since then have no overall rating whatever the inspection found. Their profiles show the report card instead.
- What does Waltham Forest local authority do?
- A local authority is the body responsible for state education in its area — the level most admissions and school-place decisions are made at. Waltham Forest covers 83 schools and sits in the London region. It does not run academies or independent schools directly, though it still coordinates admissions for most of them.
- How many pupils in Waltham Forest are eligible for free school meals?
- 26.3% — 10,823 of 41,103 pupils at the 78 schools that report it. Independent schools file a return with roll and sex only, so they are outside this figure rather than counted as zero.
Part of the London region.