SchoolFacts.uk

Bow School

Secondary · London · E3 3QW

Data updated

⇄ Compare with another school
Good

Earlier grade, confirmed by a later ungraded inspection

Ofsted's most recent (ungraded) visit confirmed the school remains Good. Ungraded inspections do not award a new grade.

Inspected 13 September 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

1,126 pupils · 83% of 1,350 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Community school
Age range
11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
47.7% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
67.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
15.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
3.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
Sixth form
Yes
Website
http://www.bow-school.org.uk
URN
100965

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 72 families named it first for 122 Year 7 places, 0.59 first choices per place. We hold 3 Year 7 admissions rounds for it, 2024 to 2026; none was decided by a published distance. An ungraded Ofsted inspection on 13 September 2023 confirmed its earlier grade, Good. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 6.9% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

0.59 first-choice applications per place

122 places offered · 72 first-choice applications · usually has places

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

How safe is a place here? Check your postcode

One free check a month, no account needed. No cutoff distance applied in 2026, so there is no boundary for your address to be inside of. The check shows how far you live from the school and how many rounds running it has placed every applicant. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools that do ration places by distance and whether you are inside them, and the address check across every school at once.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

GCSE results (2024/2025)

220 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025

Attainment 8 score
43.2
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
60.5%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
33.2%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
3.8
England 4.1

Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

A-level results (2024/2025)

A-level points per entry (England: 35 ≈ B-) B
39.1
England 35

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school43.2
Median of its 12 closest peers43.9
Tower Hamlets average48.5
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is in line with the schools that teach a comparable intake.

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Blue Coat Church of England AcademyWalsall · 111 miles awayGood37.4
Co-op Academy GrangeBradford · 172 miles awayRequires improvement29.1
West Walsall E-ACT AcademyWalsall · 112 miles awayGood39.9
Saltley AcademyBirmingham · 102 miles awayGood39.4
Saracens High SchoolLondon · 12 miles awayGood47.1
Oasis Academy Don ValleySheffield · 143 miles awayNeeds attention36.8
Astrea Academy SheffieldSheffield · 143 miles awayGood45.4
Joseph Leckie AcademyWalsall · 110 miles awayExpected standard42.4
Westminster AcademyLondon · 8 miles awayGood48.3
Dean Trust ArdwickManchester · 163 miles awayGood46.6
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson SchoolLondon · 4 miles awayOutstanding52.7
Manchester AcademyManchester · 163 miles awayGood45.4

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

Asian Bangladeshi 62% (Tower Hamlets 64%, England 2%) · Black African 8% (Tower Hamlets 8%, England 5%) · White British 6% (Tower Hamlets 6%, England 59%) · Any other Mixed background 5% (Tower Hamlets 4%, England 3%) · Any other ethnic group 4% (Tower Hamlets 3%, England 3%) · Any other White background 4% (Tower Hamlets 4%, England 7%) · Black Caribbean 2% (Tower Hamlets 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Tower Hamlets 1%, England 2%) · Any other Asian background 1% (Tower Hamlets 3%, England 3%) · Asian Pakistani 1% (Tower Hamlets 1%, England 5%) · Asian Indian 1% (Tower Hamlets 1%, England 4%) · Any other Black background 1% (Tower Hamlets 1%, England 1%) · Asian Chinese 1% (Tower Hamlets 0%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Asian 1% (Tower Hamlets 1%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Tower Hamlets 1%, England 1%)

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
6.9%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
18.6%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

8.53 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Tower Hamlets: 6.10 suspensions and 0.04 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium

Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
13.8
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

83% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 9% moved to another state school · 8% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 1.23% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained secondaries: 0.22% vacant, 0.42% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

77.4% of teachers took sickness absence, 6.6 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £70,368; 10.6% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%

Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium

Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2025-26)

This school£12,784
Typical secondary school£7,846

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 77% (77%) · premises 5% (6%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 10% (7%) · supplies and services 8% (10%) · educational supplies 4% (6%) · bought-in professional services 3% (2%) · catering 5% (3%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve £969,507; in-year balance -£599,415

Spending and reserves, last three years Premium

Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
96%
Continuing in education
96%
Apprenticeship

suppressed (small cohort)

Employment

suppressed (small cohort)

Where students go after sixth form

To university / higher education
82%
Apprenticeship
3%
Employment
6%
Any sustained destination
91%

Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
1/10among the most deprived tenth of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
2/10among the most deprived fifth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher40.1%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications18.4%18.1%
In managerial or professional work30.5%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways28%18.1%
Residents in very good health47.9%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier17.2%62.3%
Social housing50.4%17.1%
Privately rented32.3%20.5%
Detached houses0.3%22.9%
Flats97.7%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms8.7%21.1%
Households with no car or van65.4%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01035667 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£435,000823 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£345,000–£532,500the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Terraced (39)£720,000
Flat (783)£430,000

Homes around this school are dearer than three quarters of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
1an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
15an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
108an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
17an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools