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Schools in Islington, London

Islington's schools serve a densely populated inner-London borough running from Angel up through Highbury to Archway. The borough has invested heavily in school improvement and now has a high proportion of Good and Outstanding Ofsted ratings. Travel times to school are typically short, and waiting lists move regularly during the autumn term.

Data last verified 15 May 2026. Sources: Ofsted, DfE GIAS, DfE Performance Tables, Metropolitan Police, MHCLG IMD. See all sources.

Schools in Islington

23.9%

Outstanding Ofsted

87.3%

Good or Outstanding

Primary schools

Secondary schools

23%

Secondary appeal success (2024)

Top primary schools in Islington

Ranked by Ofsted rating, then by latest KS2 performance. See methodology.

School	Ofsted	KS2 %
Winton Primary School	Outstanding	100.0
Ambler Primary School and Children's Centre	Outstanding	89.0
Hugh Myddelton Primary School	Outstanding	88.0
Gillespie Primary School	Outstanding	86.0
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School	Outstanding	86.0
St Mary Magdalene Academy	Outstanding	84.0
Yerbury Primary School	Outstanding	81.0

Top secondary schools in Islington

Ranked by Ofsted rating, then by latest KS4 Attainment 8.

School	Ofsted	Att 8
St Mary Magdalene Academy	Outstanding	59.3
Highbury Fields School	Outstanding	57.4
Central Foundation Boys' School	Outstanding	55.2
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School	Outstanding	52.7
Richard Cloudesley School	Outstanding	—
Samuel Rhodes MLD School	Outstanding	—
New River College Medical	Outstanding	—

Jump to all 71 schools in Islington

Map

What the data says about Islington

87.3% of Islington schools are currently rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, compared with a London average of roughly 90% for primary and 80% for secondary. The average number of applications per place across Islington is 1.26, a useful indicator of how competitive local admissions are. The average number of recorded crime incidents within 500 metres of a school in Islington over the most recent reporting month is 292.27, drawn from the Metropolitan Police open data API. The mean IMD (Index of Multiple Deprivation) decile of Islington's schools is 3.89 — 1 is most deprived, 10 is least deprived. All metrics on this page are recomputed from source data on the 15th of every month. See our methodology for definitions and limitations.

All schools in Islington

Every school in Islington, listed alphabetically. Click any school for the full record.

School	Phase	Ofsted
Ambler Primary School and Children's Centre	Primary	Outstanding
Arts and Media School Islington	Secondary	Good
Ashmount Primary School	Primary	Good
Canonbury Primary School	Primary	Good
Central Foundation Boys' School	Secondary	Outstanding
Christ The King Catholic Primary School	Primary	Good
City of London Academy Highbury Grove	Secondary	Good
City of London Academy Islington	Secondary	Good
City of London Academy, Highgate Hill	Secondary	Good
City of London Primary Academy, Islington	Primary	Outstanding
Dallington School	Primary	—
Drayton Park Primary School	Primary	Good
Duncombe Primary School	Primary	Good
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School	Secondary	Outstanding
Gillespie Primary School	Primary	Outstanding
Grafton Primary School	Primary	Good
Hanover Primary School	Primary	Good
Hargrave Park Primary School	Primary	Good
Highbury Fields School	Secondary	Outstanding
Hugh Myddelton Primary School	Primary	Outstanding
Hungerford School	Primary	Good
Kate Greenaway Nursery School and Children's Centre	Nursery	Good
Laycock Primary School	Primary	Good
Lift Beacon High	Secondary	Good
London Scandinavian School	Primary	—
Margaret McMillan Nursery School	Nursery	Good
Moreland Primary School	Primary	Good
New River College Medical	All-through	Outstanding
New River College Primary	Primary	Good
New River College Secondary	Secondary	Good
Newington Green Primary School	Primary	Outstanding
North Bridge House Senior Canonbury School	Secondary	—
North Islington Nursery School	Nursery	Good
Pakeman Primary School	Primary	Good
Pooles Park Primary School	Primary	Inadequate
Prior Weston Primary School and Children's Centre	Primary	Good
Richard Cloudesley School	All-through	Outstanding
Robert Blair School and Children's Centre	Primary	Good
Rotherfield Primary School	Primary	Good
Royal Mencap Society	Sixth form	—
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School	Primary	Good
Samuel Rhodes MLD School	Secondary	Outstanding
St Aloysius' College	Secondary	Good
St Andrew's (Barnsbury) CofE Primary School	Primary	Good
St Joan of Arc RC Primary School	Primary	Good
St John Evangelist Catholic Primary School	Primary	Good
St John's Highbury Vale CofE Primary School	Primary	Good
St John's Upper Holloway CofE Primary School	Primary	Good
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School	Primary	Outstanding
St Luke's CofE Primary School	Primary	Good
St Mark's CofE Primary School	Primary	Good
St Mary Magdalene Academy	All-through	Outstanding
St Mary's CofE Primary School	Primary	Good
St Paul's Waldorf School	All-through	—
St Peter and St Paul Catholic Primary School	Primary	Good
The Bridge Integrated Learning Space	All-through	Outstanding
The Bridge Satellite Provision	All-through	Good
The Bridge School	All-through	Good
The Children's House School	Primary	—
The Courtyard Islington	Secondary	Good
The Gower School	Primary	—
The London Screen Academy	Sixth form	—
The New North Academy	Primary	Good
The Pears Family School	All-through	Outstanding
Thornhill Primary School	Primary	Good
Tufnell Park Primary School	Primary	Good
Vittoria Primary School	Primary	Good
Whitehall Park School	Primary	Good
William Tyndale Primary School	Primary	Good
Winton Primary School	Primary	Outstanding
Yerbury Primary School	Primary	Outstanding

Frequently asked

How many schools are there in Islington?

Islington has 71 schools in our directory, drawn from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Of these, 53 are primary, 21 are secondary, and the remainder are special, all-through, or post-16.

What proportion of Islington schools are Outstanding?

As of the latest Ofsted Management Information release, 17 schools in Islington (23.9%) are rated Outstanding, and 87.3% are rated Good or Outstanding. Ratings are refreshed monthly from the Ofsted MI publication.

When do I apply for a Reception or Year 7 place in Islington?

Reception applications in England close on 15 January each year for the September intake. Year 7 (secondary transfer) applications close on 31 October. Islington's applications are coordinated by the local authority through the eAdmissions system. See our full Reception timeline guide.

How does the school appeals process work in Islington?

If you are refused your preferred school place, you have a statutory right of appeal. Islington appeals are typically heard in May (Reception) and June–July (secondary). See our appeals tracker for Islington-level success rates by year.

How can I tell which Islington schools are over-subscribed?

Each school listing on this site shows the number of applications per place from the DfE's published admissions data. Apps-per-place above 2 typically indicates strong over-subscription. We refresh this data annually when the DfE publishes its admissions and offers release.

Sources

School list and phase from DfE Get Information About Schools (refreshed monthly). Ofsted ratings from Ofsted Management Information (refreshed monthly). Performance data from DfE Explore Education Statistics. Crime data within 500m from the Metropolitan Police open data API. Deprivation deciles from MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2019. Read our full methodology for how each metric is calculated.