Riverside School

Riverside School has demonstrated outstanding performance across all evaluated domains, including the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. The school fosters a culture of high expectations and ambition, ensuring that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive a rich and expertly delivered curriculum. With an emphasis on securing strong academic outcomes while promoting personal development, pupils feel safe, engaged, and supported in their learning journey.

Strengths

• Strong culture of high expectations
• Rich curriculum delivered by well-trained staff
• High standards of behaviour with rare cases of bullying
• Effective support for pupils with SEND
• Broad range of extracurricular opportunities
• Comprehensive careers education and guidance
• Strong support for sixth-form students

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 Riverside School attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 7.8% 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, 0.6% of pupils at Riverside School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 Riverside School had 14.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 22.8% 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, 4.9% of pupils at Riverside School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.2% 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 Riverside School received £8,632 and spent £8,540 for each of its 1,543 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,057,000 (£1,333 per pupil).

Across all 18 schools of Partnership Learning, income was £9,377 and spending £9,407 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 Barking And Dagenham · Barking and Dagenham local authority: places and applications

Riverside School is part of Partnership Learning, which runs 20 schools. The nearest others:

• Riverside Bridge School Barking
• Riverside Primary School Barking
• Thames View Junior School Barking
• The James Cambell Primary School Dagenham
• Eastbury Primary School Barking
• Greatfields Primary School Barking
• Greatfields School Barking
• The Sydney Russell School Dagenham
• Park Primary Academy Rainham
• Oxlow Bridge School Dagenham

What is Riverside School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Riverside School is Outstanding, from an inspection in November 2022.

When was Riverside School last inspected by Ofsted?

Riverside School was last inspected in November 2022.

How many pupils does Riverside School have?

Riverside School has 1,550 pupils on roll.

What age range does Riverside School cover?

Riverside School for pupils aged 11 to 19.

What are Riverside School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 57.9, and 64% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Riverside School?

Riverside School is at Renwick Road, Barking, Essex, IG11 0FU.