Best London state secondary school in your opinion?

[Simplegal]

I’m overwhelmed with school choices for a Year 10 entry for my DD into an Co-Ed state secondary school. We have a last minute, frantic move to London from abroad and looking for entry for my DD. Somewhere within 30-60 mins travel to Canary Wharf? Open to faith schools as she has been in a traditional catholic school previously. We haven’t even started the accommodation hunt just focusing on schools first! Please comment if you love your school! Thank you!

Thank you! With Catholic schools do you have to contact the schools direct and non-denomination it should be on the Borough website for vacancies?

Yes catholic directly, it's worth phoning/emailing as admissions stuff usually work some days during the holidays.

Catholic schools are hugely huuugely oversubscribed especially those that have great results and it is a very rare situation that anybody resigns. Also, even if miracle happenes and you find a space for her then the same rules apply as for everybody there: the priest needs to sign the document stating that you and your child have been actively attending masses for last years. This can be from abroad but without proof that you are practicing family and of course baptism certificate you will not secure the place. The fact that she attended Catholic school will not be enough.

Thank you!

I will do that.

If you are coming to look you could do a lot worse than coming to mass in South Woodford or wanstead and asking people with similar age children afterwards. There will be teachers as well as parents in the congregation.

I don’t know why I’m so invested in this, but if you follow the links. the poster actually used crime statistics for tower hamlets (a much bigger area) and not Whitechapel.

Population of tower hamlets - 348,804. Therefore probability of violent crime per head 0.00633594

Also you worked out Woodford wrong - on those figures it’s 0.0213512.

So your statistical likelihood of being in a violent incident appears to be higher in Woodford than Tower Hamlets.

Thank you!

If the school has a space, with no waiting list, it must be given to the next applicant, regardless of who they are (with exceptions for twice excluded children) and where they live. A catholic school cannot insist on that evidence if they have a space and only one applicant. The evidence is used to rank a waiting list, and cannot be used as a blanket entrance requirement.

It's true. The oversubscription criteria literally does not apply when there are spaces available (obvious, really...)

Patricia, honestly, I have not heard about good Catholic school in London without a waiting list. The only thing that can be done is to be put on the waiting list. Maybe outside of London.
In the last two years there is influx of refugees from Ukraine, who as orthodox fath worshippers are also accepted by the schools.

Lady Margaret in Parsons Green. It was several years ago but I know a couple of people who had year 10 entry after moving back to the UK, despite it being a very oversubscribed school. Worth getting in touch.

Amazing school.

Basically, individual risk is calculated by the number of events / number of potential targets.

I don’t think it works that way. As a population yes, as an individual no. The DD is an individual moving through a space where there are more potential crimes to encounter.

I don’t want to derail the thread, so I am going to let this go.

OP I suggest you use this site to work out where you can afford to live:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale.html

Searching by post codes works best:
Whitechapel E1
Wanstead E11
Southwoodford E18
Woodford IG8
Buckhurst Hill IG9

The last five are stops on the central line that are within the Trinity Catholic high school catchment area. Whitechapel is definitely more central and on the new Queen Elizabeth line as well as Hammersmith and circle lines.

Good luck OP!

Consider going private for 2 years then sixth form college perhaps
Consider Kent and Surrey

Thank you!

Much appreciated!

This is good advice.

Bromley/Petts Wood/Orpington/Chislehurst (used to be Kent but now part of Greater London), all lovely areas to live in and some very good comprehensives, grammar (including some of the top in the country) and private for both secondary and sixth form.

Good luck!

Also have a look at St Thomas More catholic comprehensive in Eltham, as it’s an easy commute to Canary Wharf.

A school can still be heavily oversubscribed with a different profile for admissions offers. Undersubscribed is when there are more places than applicants.

Thank you!

Thank you

Has anyone mentioned Twyford in Ealing? Excellent school, brilliant 6th form.

I have seen this school mentioned before. It’s nice to hear positive things! I will email
them as well. Thank you!

Pretty much all the London Borough of Barnet State secondaries are excellent. You would be hard pushed to find a bad one. Easy to City and Canary Wharf

Thank you very much!