St Ursula's Convent School

St Ursula's Convent School is performing well overall. Pupils achieve to a high standard, with GCSE results largely above the national average, and disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities achieve highly compared with their peers nationally. Pupils develop strong subject knowledge, attend well, behave positively, and benefit from an ambitious, broad curriculum and a wide range of wider opportunities. Leaders and governors are relatively new but have made rapid improvements across the school in a short space of time. Staffing has stabilised, subject experts are in place, and staff feel well supported. Behaviour has improved significantly since the last inspection, attendance is high, and safeguarding standards are met. Pupils are proud of their school, feel listened to and cared for, and are well prepared for their next steps. The main areas for improvement are ensuring that gaps in pupils' knowledge and occasional misconceptions are identified and addressed more promptly across the curriculum, and that staff consistently use the most effective adaptations and strategies so that all pupils with SEND can access the same curriculum as their classmates. The school has undergone significant change since the last inspection, including a new headteacher and many new leaders and staff.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve to a high standard, with GCSE results largely above the national average.
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve highly when compared nationally with their peers.
• Pupils with SEND perform very well and are well prepared for their next steps.
• Pupils develop in-depth curriculum knowledge and use subject-specific vocabulary confidently.
• Attendance is high, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Behaviour has improved significantly and pupils behave well in lessons and around the school.
• The curriculum is ambitious, broad and designed to build pupils' knowledge progressively.
• Staffing has stabilised and subject experts are in place across the curriculum.
• Leaders and governors have made rapid, embedded improvements in a short space of time.
• Staff are very positive about how leaders support their wellbeing and workload.
• The personal development programme and wide range of trips and clubs develop pupils' character and interests.
• The careers programme gives pupils a secure understanding of post-16 options.
• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe and well cared for.

Areas for Improvement

• Gaps in pupils' knowledge are not always identified and addressed by staff in a timely manner across the curriculum.
• Occasional opportunities to identify misconceptions are missed, so some minor gaps in learning go unidentified.
• A small number of pupils with SEND are not always supported as well as they could be to access the same curriculum as their classmates.
• Some leaders are still developing the expertise needed to contribute fully to monitoring and improving SEND support.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St Ursula's Convent School attended 94.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 16.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 6.6% of pupils at St Ursula's Convent School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St Ursula's Convent School had 12.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 38.3% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 12.9% of pupils at St Ursula's Convent School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St Ursula's Convent School received £10,908 and spent £12,568 for each of its 484 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £661,000 (£1,366 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

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• Secondary Schools

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What is St Ursula's Convent School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Ursula's Convent School is Expected standard, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was St Ursula's Convent School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Ursula's Convent School was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does St Ursula's Convent School have?

St Ursula's Convent School has 481 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Ursula's Convent School cover?

St Ursula's Convent School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St Ursula's Convent School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 54.0, and 61% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Ursula's Convent School?

St Ursula's Convent School is at Crooms Hill, Greenwich, London, SE10 8HN.