SchoolFacts.uk

Sacred Heart Catholic School

Secondary · London · SE5 0RP

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Outstanding

Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system

This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.

Quality of education: OutstandingBehaviour & attitudes: OutstandingPersonal development: OutstandingLeadership & management: OutstandingSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 8 November 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

950 pupils · 127% of 750 capacity (over capacity)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
11–18
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
50.7% of pupils
English as additional language
45.3% of pupils
SEN support
7.6% of pupils
EHC plan
3.1% of pupils
Sixth form
Yes
Website
www.sacredheart.southwark.sch.uk
URN
138960

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

2.07 first-choice applications per place

115 places offered · 238 first-choice applications · heavily oversubscribed

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

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

Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE. A ratio above 1.00 means more families named this school first choice than there were places.

GCSE results (2024/2025)

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

Attainment 8 score
58
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
87.6%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
69.8%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
5.3
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-
36.7
England 35

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025. “Suppressed” means the DfE withholds figures for very small cohorts.

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school58
Median of its 12 closest peers41.9
Southwark average51.4
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is ahead of the schools that teach a comparable intake.

The twelve below are matched on intake alone, from every state school in England, so most are not local. They are the evidence behind the comparison above, not a shortlist. For schools you could realistically apply to, see nearby schools.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Lancaster AcademyLeicester · 89 miles awayGood37.5
Oasis School 21Stratford · 6 miles awayGood47.8
Lynch Hill Enterprise AcademySlough · 21 miles awayRequires improvement38.3
Grace Academy CoventryCoventry · 88 miles awayGood43.2
The Milton Keynes AcademyMilton Keynes · 47 miles awayGood40.8
Holy Family Catholic SchoolLondon · 9 miles awayGood45.5
Park View SchoolLondon · 8 miles awayGood38.8
Great Yarmouth Charter AcademyGreat Yarmouth · 111 miles awayGood38.6
Uxbridge High SchoolUxbridge · 17 miles awayGood43
Chiltern AcademyLuton · 30 miles awayGood49.5
The St Thomas the Apostle CollegeLondon · 2 miles awayOutstanding (2018)61.7
Oak Wood SchoolUxbridge · 16 miles awayGood37.6

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one: same phase and admissions type, and as near as the data allows on size, free school meals, English as an additional language, SEN and the child poverty of the surrounding area (IDACI 2025). Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable: sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and plain geography all matter and are not in the calculation. Results: DfE performance tables, 2024/2025. How the matching works.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
4.2%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
12.1%
England 18.1%

Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
14.1
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

89% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 2% moved to another state school · 9% left the state-funded sector

School Workforce Census, DfE. The ratio counts full-time-equivalent qualified teachers; retention follows teachers in post one November to the next. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Spending per pupil

This school£10,203
Typical secondary school£7,798

Total expenditure ÷ pupils, academy finance return (DfE Schools Financial Benchmarking, latest year). Higher spending is not a measure of quality. It often reflects greater pupil need or a smaller school. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
98%
Continuing in education
97%
Apprenticeship
0%
Employment
1%

Where students go after sixth form

To university / higher education
82%
Apprenticeship
7%
Employment
8%
Any sustained destination
97%

Destinations measured the year after leaving, latest DfE destination measures release.

Inspection history since 2015

Ofsted management information. Ungraded and monitoring visits do not award a new grade. How the two inspection systems work.

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
5/10around the middle for England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
4/10more deprived than most of England

English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG), decile of the small area the school stands in: 1 is the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. IDACI counts only children in low-income families, which is the measure closest to the intake a school is likely to draw on.

Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher57.6%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications11.6%18.1%
In managerial or professional work44.3%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways17.8%18.1%
Residents in very good health54.3%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier31.2%62.3%
Social housing39.9%17.1%
Privately rented28.9%20.5%
Detached houses1.6%22.9%
Flats75.6%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms15.3%21.1%
Households with no car or van63.2%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01003919 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,366 adults that the school stands in. These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Children travel in from further away, and for selective, faith and some other schools usually much further. Open Government Licence v3.0.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£462,000859 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£372,000–£596,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (5)£1,950,000
Semi-detached (14)£1,000,000
Terraced (126)£867,500
Flat (714)£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.

Every residential sale registered with HM Land Registry within 1 km of the school (straight line) since January 2024, market sales of houses and flats only. A sale is dated by completion and registered weeks later, so the most recent months are incomplete. 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
6an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
57an urban school averages 5.8
All reported collisions
334an urban school averages 30.6
Of those, serious or fatal
61an urban school averages 6.1

Every collision reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics (STATS19). "Child pedestrians" counts casualties aged under 16 on foot; "school-run times" means weekdays 07:30–09:00 and 15:00–16:30 outside August. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe: counts rise with traffic and with how built-up an area is, which is why the comparison is with other urban schools. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Nearby schools