Woodmansterne School

Woodmansterne School is a large all-through community school in Lambeth for pupils aged 3 to 18, part of the WCL Federation, with a sixth form that opened in September 2022. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. The school remains good overall: behaviour and attitudes and personal development are outstanding, while quality of education, leadership and management, early years provision and sixth-form provision are good. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Pupils meet the school's high expectations and behave exceptionally well. They feel safe, support each other and typically achieve highly, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The curriculum is well rounded and carefully sequenced across phases, with particularly strong mathematics and effective cross-phase professional development. Enrichment, mental health support, careers guidance, attendance work and educational visits are notable strengths. The new sixth form offers a broad range of courses and is well supported by subject-knowledgeable staff. The main areas for improvement are in the sixth form and in catch-up support. Sixth-form curriculum implementation is less embedded than elsewhere, so students do not develop knowledge and skills in as much depth, and the quality of their work is not as high as it could be. Support for a small proportion of pupils with lower prior attainment is not consistently effective, meaning some do not catch up as quickly as they could. The report also notes that reading catch-up support for a small proportion of pupils is not as impactful as it should be, and that early years curriculum thinking is still being sharpened in some areas.

Strengths

• Pupils meet the school's high expectations and behave exceptionally well.
• Pupils feel safe and support each other to succeed.
• Pupils, including those with SEND, typically achieve highly.
• The school's mental health and staff workload approach is exemplary.
• The Woodmansterne Pledge provides high-quality enrichment for all pupils.
• The curriculum is well rounded and sequenced across primary and secondary phases.
• Mathematics teaching is consistent across phases and pupils achieve particularly highly.
• Teachers benefit from effective cross-phase professional development.
• The governing body holds the school to account effectively.
• The school prioritises reading for pleasure and pupils read widely.
• Support for pupils with SEND is high quality and well guided.
• Careers guidance is extensive, individualised and valued by pupils.
• Educational visits are carefully planned to expand pupils' knowledge.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Sixth-form curriculum implementation is less embedded, so students do not learn and remember key knowledge and skills in enough depth.
• The quality of sixth-form students' work and their achievement are not as high as they could be.
• Support for a small proportion of pupils with lower prior attainment is not consistently effective, slowing their catch-up.
• Catch-up support in reading and writing for a small proportion of pupils is not as impactful as it should be.
• Early years curriculum thinking is still being sharpened in some areas so that it is equally strong across the school.

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 Woodmansterne School attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 16.3% 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, 4.7% of pupils at Woodmansterne 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 Woodmansterne School had 15.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.7% 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, 15.3% of pupils at Woodmansterne School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.1% 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 Woodmansterne School received £8,808 and spent £9,674 for each of its 1,641 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,221,000 (£744 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Lambeth · Lambeth local authority: places and applications

What is Woodmansterne School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Woodmansterne School is Good, from an inspection in February 2025.

When was Woodmansterne School last inspected by Ofsted?

Woodmansterne School was last inspected in February 2025.

How many pupils does Woodmansterne School have?

Woodmansterne School has 1,637 pupils on roll.

What age range does Woodmansterne School cover?

Woodmansterne School for pupils aged 3 to 18.

What are Woodmansterne School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.0, and 48% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

What are Woodmansterne School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 74% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Woodmansterne School?

Woodmansterne School is at Woodmansterne Road, Streatham, London, SW16 5UQ.