SchoolFacts.uk

Riverside School

Secondary · Barking · IG11 0FU

Data updated

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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 5 October 2022

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

1,550 pupils · 85% of 1,824 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Free schools
Age range
11–19
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
33.6% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
29.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
3.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
0.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
Sixth form
Yes
Website
https://riverside-secondary.com/
URN
139791

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 219 families named it first for 294 Year 7 places, 0.74 first choices per place. We hold 11 Year 7 admissions rounds for it, 2016 to 2026; none was decided by a published distance. Ofsted last graded it Outstanding on 5 October 2022, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 4.2% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

0.74 first-choice applications per place

294 places offered · 219 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

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2015

0.71 first-choice applications per place

17 places offered · 12 first-choice applications · usually has places

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.

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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.

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

GCSE results (2024/2025)

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

Attainment 8 score
55.5
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
83%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
59.9%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
5.2
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-
38
England 35

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

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school55.5
Median of its 12 closest peers51
Barking and Dagenham average48.1
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is ahead of 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
Weavers AcademyWellingborough · 65 miles awayGood39.8
St Angela's Ursuline SchoolLondon · 4 miles awayOutstanding54.1
St Anne's Catholic SchoolSouthampton · 78 miles awayOutstanding55.6
All Saints' Catholic High SchoolSheffield · 144 miles awayExpected standard49.9
Q3 Academy LangleyOldbury · 112 miles awayGood (2019)51.8
Haydon SchoolPinner · 23 miles awayGood46
The Frances Bardsley Academy for GirlsRomford · 5 miles awayGood51.4
Kingsmead SchoolEnfield · 12 miles awayExpected standard48.8
The Palmer Catholic AcademyIlford · 3 miles awayExpected standard48.8
Southgate SchoolBarnet · 14 miles awayGood51.1
St Wilfrid's Church of England AcademyBlackburn · 189 miles awayGood50.8
Cardinal Hume Catholic School, GatesheadGateshead · 246 miles awayOutstanding53.2

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

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

Black African 34% (Barking and Dagenham 21%, England 5%) · Asian Bangladeshi 14% (Barking and Dagenham 13%, England 2%) · Any other White background 9% (Barking and Dagenham 12%, England 7%) · Asian Pakistani 8% (Barking and Dagenham 11%, England 5%) · White British 6% (Barking and Dagenham 16%, England 59%) · Any other Black background 5% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 1%) · Any other Asian background 4% (Barking and Dagenham 3%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 4% (Barking and Dagenham 5%, England 4%) · Black Caribbean 3% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black African 3% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 1%) · Not recorded 3% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 2%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Barking and Dagenham 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Asian 1% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 3%) · other groups together 0%

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)
4.2%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
9.4%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

0.65 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Barking and Dagenham: 5.95 suspensions and 0.14 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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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
15.5
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

77% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 8% moved to another state school · 15% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

48% of teachers took sickness absence, 3.9 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 £52,974; 8.3% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%

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

Spending per pupil (2024-25)

This school£8,046
Typical secondary school£7,846

Where the money went (2024-25)

Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 80% (77%) · premises 7% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 8% (6%) · supplies and services 6% (11%) · educational supplies 5% (6%) · bought-in professional services -2% (1%) · catering 4% (3%)

Reserves (2024-25)

Revenue reserve £1,000; in-year balance +£724,000

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
95%
Continuing in education
94%
Apprenticeship

suppressed (small cohort)

Employment

suppressed (small cohort)

Where students go after sixth form

To university / higher education
74%
Apprenticeship
6%
Employment
3%
Any sustained destination
84%

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)
3/10more deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
4/10more deprived than most of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher46.9%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications13.1%18.1%
In managerial or professional work27.1%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways18.1%18.1%
Residents in very good health59.8%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier29.7%62.3%
Social housing41.6%17.1%
Privately rented28.4%20.5%
Detached houses4.5%22.9%
Flats57.5%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms8.2%21.1%
Households with no car or van32.3%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01000094 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£285,000171 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£244,000–£360,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Semi-detached (5)£460,000
Terraced (37)£380,000
Flat (128)£260,500

Homes around this school are cheaper than most 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
3an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
6an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
2an 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