Central Foundation Boys' School
Cowper Street, City Road, London, EC2A 4SH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Boys
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Mr Jamie Brownhill
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Islington South and Finsbury
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 1,152
- URN
- 100458
- Local authority
- Islington
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02072533741
About this school
Central Foundation Boys' School is a boys' voluntary aided secondary school in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,152 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 164 | 163 | 170 |
| Attainment 8 score | 57.2 | 55.3 | 55.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.55 +0.33 to +0.77 | +0.56 +0.34 to +0.78 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 60% | 62% | 68.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 85% | 79.1% | 82.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 54% | 61.3% | 59.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.3 | 5.1 | 5.1 |
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 Central Foundation Boys' 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 | 57.2 | 44.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 55.3 | 46.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 55.2 | 45.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,106 |
| 2023/24 | 1,132 |
| 2024/25 | 1,133 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Central Foundation Boys' School compares
Central Foundation Boys' School ranked 3rd of 8 secondary schools in Islington for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 87% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 55.2 | 6.9% | 46.6% | 1,152 | — |
| Mulberry Academy Shoreditch | 45 | 6.7% | 67.3% | 1,457 | 0.7 miles |
| Haggerston School | 52.7 | 6.5% | 49.4% | 939 | 0.8 miles |
| The Bridge Academy | 56.9 | 8% | 59.1% | 1,070 | 0.9 miles |
| City of London Academy Islington | 40.8 | 14.1% | 70.1% | 852 | 0.9 miles |
| Waterside Academy | 44.6 | 7.8% | 64.4% | 351 | 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)
- 46.61%
- English as an additional language
- 27.4%
- Overall absence
- 6.93%
- Persistent absence
- 18.9%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Mulberry Academy Shoreditch0.7 miles
Secondary · London
-
Haggerston School0.8 miles
Secondary · London
-
The Bridge Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · London
-
City of London Academy Islington0.9 miles
Secondary · London
-
Waterside Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in London
Central Foundation Boys' School ranks 73rd 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 Central Foundation Boys' School teach?
- Central Foundation Boys' School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of Central Foundation Boys' School?
- The headteacher of Central Foundation Boys' School is Mr Jamie Brownhill, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Central Foundation Boys' School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Central Foundation Boys' 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 Central Foundation Boys' School?
- Central Foundation Boys' School has 1,152 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Central Foundation Boys' School full?
- Central Foundation Boys' School has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 1,152 on roll (110%), so it is at or above 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 Central Foundation Boys' School a faith school?
- No. Central Foundation Boys' School has no designated religious character.
- Is Central Foundation Boys' School a selective school?
- No. Central Foundation Boys' School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Central Foundation Boys' School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 57.2 in 2022/23 and 55.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Central Foundation Boys' School rank locally?
- Central Foundation Boys' School ranked 3rd of 8 secondary schools in Islington for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 87% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Central Foundation Boys' School's absence rate?
- Central Foundation Boys' School's overall absence rate is 6.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Central Foundation Boys' School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Central Foundation Boys' 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.