If you’re a future-planning parent of a primary school age child, this list of London’s best secondary state schools and areas to move to for school catchment areas will help you narrow down your search.
When should you start thinking about secondary schools?
Generally-speaking, once your child reaches the age of 8 – usually Year 4 in a UK primary school – you could consider purchasing or renting a home within a secondary school catchment area.
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Most UK state schools – not including academies and free schools – operate on a catchment area admissions policy. But what is a school catchment area exactly and why should you move to a property within one? A ‘catchment’ area is the geographical area that a school will accept pupils should their permanent residence fall within it – it’s a fair and non-selective way of allocating school places to local children.
According to the latest .Gov data, 82.9% of pupils were offered their first choice of secondary school. This highlights that it is statistically unlikely that a place should be offered should you live outside of a designated catchment area – local councils use a variety of methods to establish catchment areas and these are outlined in more detail further in this article.
It’s all about the red tape
Let catchment area battles commence! Parents will go to exceptional lengths to secure a place at a top performing secondary school, including bending the rules. If you need to rent before committing to a property purchase, please be aware that some London councils will require proof of a minimum 12-month rental period/cut-off date prior to applying for a secondary school place.
This is to clamp down on the practice of renting a home short term property near a popular school while keeping a main property and moving back after a place has been accepted. Similarly, it is also fraudulent to make a school application using the address of a friend or relative.
When it comes to winning a place at an in-demand secondary school, it’s a case of cold hard cash, diligent research, lightning-reflexes when a property comes on the market and a large serving of good luck.
It’s not uncommon for prospective parents to cold-canvas owners of a home next to a good secondary school in the hope of an off-market sale and some extra incentives thrown in for good measure.
According to research carried out by several of London’s top estate agents and mortgage providers, parents are willing to stretch to the very top end of budgets to get their child into a good London secondary school – this is known as a ‘catchment area premium’.
British bank Santander found that parents are willing to pay as much as a 12% extra premium on a house if it’s in the catchment area for a sought-after school and topping out at 12% for those making an even larger financial sacrifice.
The report also found that a quarter of parents began thinking about moving before their children were born and were prepared to move 25 miles on average to get into the catchment area for a top state school.
Depending on the year and the number of applications, catchment areas fluctuate in size which impact on entrance criteria.
Schools deemed ‘outstanding’ and that are oversubscribed will usually have more stringent entrance criteria. If a school is not oversubscribed, it must accept pupils from any location – it doesn’t matter if you live inside or outside of the school’s borough.
If a school is located in a population-dense area and is oversubscribed, it is worth noting that there is no 100% guarantee of an offer no matter how close you live. For example, if a particular year had a higher-than-average number of allocated sibling places which the school is obliged to prioritise. In this case, your child might not be offered a place even if they live a few streets away from the school.
Equally, if there are many children applying that live within the catchment area, priority is usually given to pupils that live closest to the school. Properties closest to in-demand schools will be exponentially more expensive than homes further away and do not guarantee entry based on proximity.
Other criteria that may affect pupil allocation:
- Whether your child has a sibling already attending the school
- Whether your child has attended a ‘feeder’ primary school
- Whether your child has additional needs
- Whether a child is ‘looked after’ by a local authority
Faith schools and grammar schools:
- Whether your child belongs to a faith and has been demonstrably practicing that faith
- Whether your child is academically gifted
Heavily subscribed primary and secondary schools are not endemic to London or other larger UK cities. Covid saw a dramatic population shift from urban areas to quieter, less populous towns and villages especially those within the home counties that make up London’s commuter belt such as Kent, Surrey, Berkshire and Hertfordshire.
Confusingly, school place offers will vary from school to school and might depend on a combination of a multifactorial set of criteria that shift depending on demographics and application volumes.
With the exception of London faith schools, grammar schools – reserved for exceptionally bright pupils – and scholarship places, a helpful tool to determine whether your child might be offered a spot at your first-choice secondary school is to check how the school allocated places to school children in previous years.
Better still, if you want a clearer snapshot of the odds of getting in to a chosen secondary school before you start a property search, call up the school admissions office and ask for a breakdown or attend an open day.
However, if you’re planning to move to a ‘forever’ home close to a good secondary school you can rely on the below list to best determine your chances of an offer:
London state secondary school catchment areas
Straight line distance
This is a simple and popular method used to allocate secondary school places to eligible students. It is usually a circular area determined by how furthest away a child that was offered a place the previous year. For example, there are, on average, 60 places offered each year, the nearest 60 children will be offered a place.
Walking distance
Similar to a straight line catchment, applicants are assessed on how close they live to the school based on designated walking routes, which are set out by the local authority.
This is usually what is deemed to be the shortest ‘safe’ walking route to school.
Priority admissions
Priority admission area catchments are fixed geographical areas around a school. Applicants from inside the designated area are given priority over those outside it.
Any remaining places are then offered to siblings from outside of the area and then other children.
Find out more about school admissions and catchment areas.
Where to move to in London for top-rated secondary schools
A 2024 UK secondary school league table released by education provider Britannia lists London’s best state secondary schools based on A-level and GCSE results.
The highest number of top-ranking state schools fall within South West London, which is home to some of the capital’s most affluent areas including Richmond and Kingston-Upon-Thames.
Best state secondary schools in London 2024:
GCSE league table
| Position | School | Area |
| 1 | The Henrietta Barnett School | Hampstead Garden Suburb |
| 2 | The Latymer School | Edmonton |
| 3 | St Michael’s Catholic School, Finchley | Finchley |
| 4 | Cranford Community College | Hounslow |
| 5 | The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School | Holland Park/Notting Hill/Kensington |
| 6 | Twyford C of E High School | Twyford |
| 7 | Menorah High School for Girls | Neasden |
| 8 | Hasmonean High School | Hendon |
| 9 | The Grey Coat Hospital | Westminster |
| 10 | Lady Margaret School | Fulham |
Best state secondary schools in London 2024:
A-Level league table
| Position | School | Area |
| 1 | The Henrietta Barnett School | Hampstead Garden Suburb |
| 2 | The Latymer School | Edmonton |
| 3 | St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School | Finchley |
| 4 | Hasmonean High School for Girls | Hendon |
| 5 | Camden High School for Girls | Camden |
| 6 | Mossbourne Community Academy | Hackney downs |
| 7 | West London Free School | Hammersmith/Chiswick |
| 8 | Menorah High School for Girls | Neasden |
| 9 | Hasmonean High School for Boys | Hendon |
| 10 | Twyford C of E High School | Acton |
Other exceptional state secondary schools:
- The London Oratory School – Fulham
- Tiffin School – Kingston-Upon-Thames
- Grey Court School – Richmond-Upon-Thames
Catchment areas and criteria for admission
Henrietta Barnett School Catchment Area – Hampstead Garden Suburb
Admissions to The Henrietta Barnett School are based on academic excellence. This means that there is no catchment area; pupils applying for a place for Year 7 are assessed in verbal, non-verbal reasoning and English followed by a second round in English and Mathematics.
The Latymer School – Edmonton
The Latymer School is a prestigious grammar school in Edmonton, north London dating back to 1624. The mixed state school ranks consistently amongst the top schools in the country. If the applicant ranks within the top 500 applicants for maths and verbal reasoning, the English test is then considered in order to determine their eligibility for a place.
St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School – Finchley
St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School is a voluntary aided Roman Catholic Grammar School for girls and boys in the sixth form in Finchley. Catchment area — St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School does not have a catchment area but places preference on 11+ test grades and adhering to the Catholic faith.
Hasmonean High School for Girls - Mill Hill
Popular with North London Jewish Families, there is a large catchment area from all areas. As a faith school, and in accordance with the School Admissions Code, children of the Orthodox Jewish Faith are given priority.
Cranford Community College - Hounslow
Heavily oversubscribed, Cranford Community College is an extremely popular academy school based in Hounslow, West London. School admissions operate on a catchment area basis, which means that children living closest to the school will be given priority over those living further away.
The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School – Holland Park
Topping annual best London schools polls, this Ofsted outstanding-rated West London school is a voluntary-aided Catholic comprehensive for boys with a mixed Sixth Form. The school is over-subscribed and applicants from across London are accepted based on ability as well as a demonstrable and positive attitude to the Catholic faith. The school must be your first choice.
Twyford Church of England High School – Acton
Twyford C of E High School is a co-educational Church of England Academy school in Acton, West London. Twyford is heavily oversubscribed each year with students starting in year 7 coming from 71 different primary schools across seven London Boroughs.
Menorah High School for Girls – Dollis Hill
Menorah High School for Girls located in North West London is an independent school for Orthodox Jewish girls between the ages of 11 and 18 years. There is no specific catchment area but children of the Jewish faith are given priority.
The Grey Coat Hospital School – Westminster
The Grey Coat Hospital School is a voluntary aided Church of England Comprehensive Academy for girls, which has a special relationship with Westminster Abbey.
Applicants are offered a place based on academic excellence (excluding language places and those with an Education, Health and Care plan). To ensure a balanced intake from all ability ranges, all girls must sit a nonverbal reasoning test on assessment day.
Lady Margaret School – Parsons Green
There are 120 places at Lady Margaret School for Year 7 in each academic year. The 67 Foundation Places will be reserved for girls who have regularly attended services at a Church of England church and 53 Open Places will be reserved for girls of any, or no, religion.
Applications for foundation and open places are separately divided into three ability bands making six categories, depending on the girl’s ability and the nature of her application. For each category distance measurements are then applied.
Camden High School for Girls School – Camden
You can check the Camden School for Girls school catchment area map to see the distance from the school for students accepted under the distance criterion for the four bands defined in the Admissions Policy.
West London Free School – Hammersmith
The West London Free School does not have a catchment area. Places are allocated according to straight-line distance from the school gate on Banim Street in Hammersmith. How close you’ll have to live to the school in order to qualify for a place will depend on how many people apply in any given year and where they live.
The London Oratory School – Fulham
One of the most competitive schools in the country, The London Oratory School does not have a catchment area as such. The school’s aim is to assist Catholic parents from across London in fulfilling their obligation to educate their children in accordance with the principles and teachings of the Catholic Church.
The Tiffin Boys’ School – Kingston-upon-Thames
Heavily oversubscribed, the Tiffin School is a boys’ grammar school with specialist status in both the performing arts and languages.
All applicants who live less than 10 km (6.2 miles) from Tiffin School, measured as a straight line, live in the Priority Area. Since introducing the Priority Area (previously the Inner Priority Area), places have only been offered to those who live within 10km of the school.
The Tiffin Girls’ School – Kingston-Upon-Thames
The Tiffin Girls’ School is a selective school in South West London. For places in Year 7, the school catchment area is made up of an Inner Area and a Designated Area and girls living in these areas are given priority.
The Grey Court School – Richmond-Upon-Thames
The Grey Court School is an Ofsted-Outstanding rated secondary school in Richmond. Heavily oversubscribed, children who live nearest to the school are prioritised over those living further away.
The home to school distance is the shortest route to the main school gate by road or maintained footpath in metres. This is measured by Richmond School Admissions’ computerised geographical information system (GIS) and data supplied by ordnance survey.
