Westminster City School

Westminster City School is a strong school overall, with pupils achieving highly across a broad and ambitious curriculum. Attainment in national examinations is above average and has been sustained over time, and sixth form students also achieve well and are exceptionally well prepared for their next steps. Attendance is strong, including for pupils facing significant barriers, and behaviour is calm and respectful, with suspensions and incidents of discriminatory language falling. Leadership is clear and well supported by governors and trustees, and safeguarding is effective.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve highly across the school and in the sixth form.
• Attainment in national examinations is above average and sustained over time.
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve well, particularly in GCSE English and mathematics.
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils make suitable progress from their starting points.
• Pupils are extremely well prepared for their next steps.
• Attendance is strong, including for pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged.
• Behaviour is calm and respectful, with suspensions and discriminatory language incidents falling.
• Leaders provide clear direction and have a shared understanding of strengths and improvement areas.
• Staff benefit from a comprehensive professional learning programme tailored to pupil needs and staff aspirations.
• Governors and trustees know the school well and hold leaders to account effectively.
• Sixth form students achieve highly and receive expert teaching and tailored support.
• Sixth form students receive helpful guidance on university, apprenticeships and employment.
• Pupils benefit from a well-considered personal development programme and a wide range of extra-curricular activities.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and pupils feel safe and know how to raise concerns.
• Careers education is effective, with one-to-one guidance and strong business links.
• Support for pupils with SEND has improved, with more precise identification and tailored help.

Areas for Improvement

• The teaching of the curriculum is not consistently adapted to meet the needs of all pupils.
• The school’s agreed teaching approaches are not applied consistently in all lessons.
• Leaders need to further develop a coherently designed range of wider opportunities.
• Leaders need to track uptake of wider opportunities carefully to ensure they benefit all groups of pupils.
• Leaders need to evaluate the impact of the personal development programme more systematically.
• Curriculum adaptation for pupils with SEND is not yet consistently embedded.

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 Westminster City School attended 92.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.7% 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 Westminster City 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 Westminster City School had 15.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.3% 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, 11.1% of pupils at Westminster City School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 0.6% 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 Westminster City School received £9,985 and spent £10,671 for each of its 802 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £194,000 (-£242 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.

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• Secondary Schools

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

What is Westminster City School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Westminster City School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Westminster City School last inspected by Ofsted?

Westminster City School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Westminster City School have?

Westminster City School has 790 pupils on roll.

What age range does Westminster City School cover?

Westminster City School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Westminster City School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 48.8, and 50% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Westminster City School?

Westminster City School is at 55 Palace Street, London, SW1E 5HJ.