William Ellis School
Highgate Road, London, NW5 1RN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Boys
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Ms Izzy Jones
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Hampstead and Highgate
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 895
- Pupils on roll
- 771
- URN
- 100056
- Local authority
- Camden
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02072679346
About this school
William Ellis School is a boys' voluntary aided secondary school in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 771 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 127 | 123 | 97 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.5 | 48.8 | 48.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.26 -0.51 to -0.02 | -0.17 -0.43 to +0.09 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 57% | 54.5% | 52.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71% | 72.4% | 71.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 87% | 77.2% | 79.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How William Ellis School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Camden average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.5 | 42.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.8 | 43.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.2 | 37.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 904 |
| 2023/24 | 879 |
| 2024/25 | 817 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How William Ellis School compares
William Ellis School ranked 5th of 10 secondary schools in Camden for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.2 | 11.6% | 56.6% | 771 | — |
| Parliament Hill School | 57.1 | 8% | 36.7% | 1,191 | 0.1 miles |
| La Sainte Union Catholic Secondary School | 48.5 | 7.7% | 44.9% | 550 | 0.1 miles |
| Acland Burghley School | 49.9 | 8.8% | 42.8% | 1,252 | 0.4 miles |
| St Aloysius' College | — | — | — | 341 | 0.9 miles |
| Haverstock School | 41.5 | 13.3% | 75.9% | 878 | 1.0 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 56.61%
- English as an additional language
- 34.3%
- Overall absence
- 11.56%
- Persistent absence
- 35.99%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Parliament Hill School0.1 miles
Secondary · London
-
La Sainte Union Catholic Secondary School0.1 miles
Secondary · London
-
Acland Burghley School0.4 miles
Secondary · London
-
St Aloysius' College0.9 miles
Secondary · London
-
Haverstock School1.0 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in London
William Ellis School ranks 154th of the 258 ranked secondary schools in London.
- Acland Burghley School Secondary
- Ada Lovelace Church of England High School Secondary
- Addey and Stanhope School Secondary
- AIM Academy North London Secondary
- Alexandra Park School Secondary
- All Saints Catholic College Secondary
- All Saints Catholic High School Secondary
- Ark Acton Academy Secondary
- Ark All Saints Academy Secondary
- Ark Bolingbroke Academy Secondary
- Ark Burlington Danes Academy Secondary
- Ark Elvin Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does William Ellis School teach?
- William Ellis School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of William Ellis School?
- The headteacher of William Ellis School is Ms Izzy Jones, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was William Ellis School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected William Ellis School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is William Ellis School?
- William Ellis School has 771 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is William Ellis School full?
- William Ellis School has capacity for 895 pupils and 771 on roll (86%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is William Ellis School a faith school?
- No. William Ellis School has no designated religious character.
- Is William Ellis School a selective school?
- No. William Ellis School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have William Ellis School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.5 in 2022/23 and 48.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does William Ellis School rank locally?
- William Ellis School ranked 5th of 10 secondary schools in Camden for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is William Ellis School's absence rate?
- William Ellis School's overall absence rate is 11.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are William Ellis School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, William Ellis School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.