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Secondary school may only cover seven years of our lives, but it plays an enormous part in shaping who we are as adults. So, picking a secondary school for your child can be a daunting task (no pressure). Of course, which school your child goes to is largely dictated by your catchment area, but with 2,700 state schools in London overall, you’ll probably have at least two or three options. And while exam results are by no means the only measure of a decent school, a place with a high rate of top results is probably going to be most people’s first choice.
So, for its ranking of England’s best schools, the Telegraph has delved into the average exam results of 3,500 schools, measured as the percentage of pupils who achieved at least a 5 in GCSE English, maths, a science, a language and a social subject like history or geography (on a national level, only 18 percent of pupils achieve such a thing). Its final ranking has also taken into account factors like average class size, truancy rates, pupil destinations and GCSE subject options.
The large majority of the top ranked schools are grammar schools, where students have to pass an exam in order to attend and are already high-achievers when they arrive. But the Telegraph’s list shows that there are plenty of non-selective schools that give them a run for their money. And one of the UK’s very best is here in London.
St Marylebone CofE School in Marylebone was the crowned best non-selective school in the capital city and second best in the UK. It ranked 44th overall with a near perfect score of 39 out of 40 and a GCSE 5+ rate of 33.1 percent. Dating all the way back to 1791, the school welcomes girls from year seven and boys can attend at sixth form. It specialises in performing arts, general arts, maths and computing, and (in case you need more evidence that it spawns high-achievers) it has educated the likes of Amelia Dimoldenberg (off Chicken Shop Dates), singer Rina Sawayama and actress Naomie Harris.
St Marylebone was pipped to the post for the title of best non-selective in all of England by High Storrs School in Sheffield, which has a 5+ rate of 50.2 percent and came third on the overall list with a score of 40 out of 40.
Find out which secondary school was crowned London’s best overall by the Telegraph here.
Plus: the Telegraph has also named two London private schools the best in the UK.
And: the best (and worst) universities in London have been named by the Daily Mail.
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