Holy Family Catholic School

Holy Family Catholic School is performing well and maintains a good overall effectiveness, as reflected in its positive results across various domains including the quality of education, behavior and attitudes, personal development, and leadership. The school fosters a supportive environment, encouraging strong peer relationships and bonding among students and staff. There is an emphasis on high attendance and punctuality, and the pupils feel safe and valued. Notably, the school has made strides in broadening its curriculum, especially in modern foreign languages, and promotes a strong personal, social, and health education program.

Strengths

• Pupils build strong friendships and appreciate a supportive staff.
• High attendance and punctuality rates among pupils.
• Broad curriculum with increased uptake in modern foreign languages.
• Well-planned and sequenced curriculum that deepens subject understanding.
• Effective personal development programs that include life skills education.
• Positive behavior and low incidence of disruption in lessons.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching in Years 7 to 9 does not consistently check understanding, leading to misconceptions.
• Variable take-up of enrichment activities and personal development opportunities.

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 Holy Family Catholic School attended 93.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 20.2% 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, 4.5% of pupils at Holy Family Catholic School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 pupils were 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 Holy Family Catholic School had 15.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.4% 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, 6.6% of pupils at Holy Family Catholic School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.3% 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 Holy Family Catholic School received £9,610 and spent £9,614 for each of its 1,179 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £21,000 (-£17 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 Waltham Forest · Waltham Forest local authority: places and applications

What is Holy Family Catholic School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Holy Family Catholic School is Good, from an inspection in May 2023.

When was Holy Family Catholic School last inspected by Ofsted?

Holy Family Catholic School was last inspected in May 2023.

How many pupils does Holy Family Catholic School have?

Holy Family Catholic School has 1,175 pupils on roll.

What age range does Holy Family Catholic School cover?

Holy Family Catholic School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Holy Family Catholic School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 48.1, and 47% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Holy Family Catholic School?

Holy Family Catholic School is at 1 Shernhall Street, Walthamstow, London, E17 3EA.