Highbury Fields School
Highbury Hill, London, N5 1AR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Girls
- Headteacher
- Mr Tim Fox
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Islington North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 733
- URN
- 100455
- Local authority
- Islington
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02072881888
About this school
Highbury Fields School is a girls' community secondary school in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 733 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Highbury Fields School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 28 September 2022, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Outstanding. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 134 | 127 | 134 |
| Attainment 8 score | 57.1 | 51.4 | 57.4 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.82 +0.57 to +1.07 | +0.43 +0.17 to +0.68 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 65% | 56.7% | 61.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 84% | 73.2% | 80.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 52% | 30.7% | 48.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.3 | 4.6 | 5.3 |
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 Highbury Fields 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 | Islington average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 57.1 | 44.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 51.4 | 46.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 57.4 | 45.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 767 |
| 2023/24 | 747 |
| 2024/25 | 729 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Highbury Fields School compares
Highbury Fields School ranked 2nd of 8 secondary schools in Islington for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 91% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57.4 | 8.4% | 54.1% | 733 | — |
| City of London Academy Highbury Grove | 45.4 | 10.1% | 60.1% | 892 | 0.3 miles |
| Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form | 48.4 | 8.7% | 41.1% | 1,665 | 0.8 miles |
| City of London Academy Islington | 40.8 | 14.1% | 70.1% | 852 | 1.2 miles |
| Arts and Media School Islington | 38.3 | 14.9% | 66.4% | 577 | 1.2 miles |
| Lift Beacon High | — | — | — | 414 | 1.2 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)
- 54.11%
- English as an additional language
- 52%
- Overall absence
- 8.39%
- Persistent absence
- 22.3%
Location
Nearby schools
-
City of London Academy Highbury Grove0.3 miles
Secondary · London
-
Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form0.8 miles
Secondary · London
-
City of London Academy Islington1.2 miles
Secondary · London
-
Arts and Media School Islington1.2 miles
Secondary · London
-
Lift Beacon High1.2 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in London
Highbury Fields School ranks 53rd 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 ages does Highbury Fields School teach?
- Highbury Fields School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of Highbury Fields School?
- The headteacher of Highbury Fields School is Mr Tim Fox, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Highbury Fields School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Highbury Fields 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 many pupils are at Highbury Fields School?
- Highbury Fields School has 733 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Highbury Fields School full?
- Highbury Fields School has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 733 on roll (70%), 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 Highbury Fields School a faith school?
- No. Highbury Fields School has no designated religious character.
- Is Highbury Fields School a selective school?
- No. Highbury Fields School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Highbury Fields School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 57.1 in 2022/23 and 57.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Highbury Fields School compare with other schools in Islington?
- Highbury Fields School ranked 2nd of 8 secondary schools in Islington for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 91% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Highbury Fields School's absence rate?
- Highbury Fields School's overall absence rate is 8.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Highbury Fields School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Highbury Fields 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.