South Chingford Foundation School

Academy sponsor led·Secondary school London, Waltham Forest·E4 8SG
Composite score
41.0
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#3,088
National rank
#478
In London
#16
In Waltham Forest
Top 97%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
32.8
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
29%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
37%
% EBacc grade 5+
10%
EBacc average points score
3.04

Ofsted judgements

New framework · Last inspection: 20/01/2026 · Read full report ↗

Achievement
Needs attention
Leadership and governance
Needs attention
Curriculum and teaching
Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour
Needs attention
Personal development and wellbeing
Needs attention
Inclusion
Needs attention
Safeguarding standards
Met

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
28 first choices, 64 places
First choices per place
0.44
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
141
any preference, for 64 places
Applications from another council area
1%
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.12
00.511.5
1 per place
0.4220220.4120230.5120240.5520250.442026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put South Chingford Foundation School first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–18
Pupils on roll
617
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
41.6%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
54.0%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
10.4%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
4.7%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
11.8%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
37.4%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
17.4
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£9,016
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
91%
95 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
88%
Apprenticeship
1%
Employment
1%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

School overview

South Chingford Foundation School is a secondary school serving London, Waltham Forest, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy. It has 617 pupils aged 11 to 18 on roll. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 32.8 — well below the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has fallen by 2.4 points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

29% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 37% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made South Chingford Foundation School their first choice was offered one of its 64 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 91% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 11.8%. There are about 17.4 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 42% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. South Chingford Foundation School does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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