Walthamstow Academy

Walthamstow Academy continues to perform well as a good school, providing a safe and supportive environment where pupils thrive. The leadership team has established a broad and ambitious curriculum designed to help students learn effectively, and pupils respond positively, engaging with their studies and valuing the opportunities presented to them. The school places a strong emphasis on safeguarding, ensuring that pupils are aware of their rights and responsibilities in a diverse community, and providing support for personal development through various enrichment activities and career guidance.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy attending the school and feel safe.
• Strong emphasis on safeguarding with effective systems in place.
• Ambitious and well-designed curriculum that helps pupils learn key concepts.
• Teachers possess strong subject knowledge and effectively check pupil understanding.
• Pupils with SEND receive good support and follow the same curriculum as their peers.
• High expectations for pupil behavior lead to a positive school climate.
• A range of extracurricular opportunities aid personal development.

Areas for Improvement

• In a few subjects, the planned curriculum is not implemented consistently, affecting pupils' ability to tackle more challenging ideas.

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 Walthamstow Academy attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 20.6% 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, 12.8% of pupils at Walthamstow Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 7 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 Walthamstow Academy had 14.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.5% 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, 13.1% of pupils at Walthamstow Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.8% 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 2024–25 Walthamstow Academy received £9,201 and spent £8,835 for each of its 1,071 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £957,000 (£894 per pupil).

Across all 93 schools of United Learning Trust, income was £8,687 and spending £8,616 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Waltham Forest · Waltham Forest local authority: places and applications

Walthamstow Academy is part of United Learning Trust, which runs 98 schools. The nearest others:

• Walthamstow Primary Academy London
• Whittingham Primary Academy London
• Salisbury Manor Primary School London
• Longshaw Primary Academy London
• Winston Way Academy Ilford
• Bacon's College London
• The Totteridge Academy London
• Goresbrook School Dagenham
• The John Roan School London
• Marylebone Academy London

What is Walthamstow Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Walthamstow Academy is Good, from an inspection in February 2023.

When was Walthamstow Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Walthamstow Academy was last inspected in February 2023.

How many pupils does Walthamstow Academy have?

Walthamstow Academy has 1,092 pupils on roll.

What age range does Walthamstow Academy cover?

Walthamstow Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Walthamstow Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 52.9, and 63% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Walthamstow Academy?

Walthamstow Academy is at Billet Road, Walthamstow, London, E17 5DP.