Central Foundation Girls' School
Bow Road, London, E3 2AE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Girls
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Ms Carla Prince
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Stratford and Bow
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,550
- Pupils on roll
- 1,526
- URN
- 100975
- Local authority
- Tower Hamlets
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02089811131
About this school
Central Foundation Girls' School is a girls' voluntary aided secondary school in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,526 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Central Foundation Girls' School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 239 | 238 | 237 |
| Attainment 8 score | 54.6 | 55.0 | 54.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.67 +0.49 to +0.85 | +0.50 +0.31 to +0.68 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 63% | 59.2% | 54% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 82% | 79.8% | 74.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 42% | 49.2% | 42.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.8 |
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 Girls' 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 | Tower Hamlets average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 54.6 | 44.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 55 | 44 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 54.3 | 43.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,529 |
| 2023/24 | 1,515 |
| 2024/25 | 1,541 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Central Foundation Girls' School compares
Central Foundation Girls' School ranked 3rd of 17 secondary schools in Tower Hamlets for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 86% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54.3 | 7.1% | 56.5% | 1,526 | — |
| Mulberry UTC | 30.3 | 16.4% | 62.7% | 536 | 0.5 miles |
| Morpeth School | 49.2 | 7.5% | 55.2% | 1,512 | 0.8 miles |
| Bow School | 43.2 | 6.9% | 57.5% | 1,126 | 0.9 miles |
| Mulberry Stepney Green Mathematics and Computing College | 47.5 | 5.9% | 51.1% | 1,364 | 0.9 miles |
| Harris Science Academy East London | 56.9 | 6.7% | 53.2% | 513 | 0.9 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 56.48%
- English as an additional language
- 42.6%
- Overall absence
- 7.07%
- Persistent absence
- 21.96%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Mulberry UTC0.5 miles
Secondary · London
-
Morpeth School0.8 miles
Secondary · London
-
Bow School0.9 miles
Secondary · London
-
Mulberry Stepney Green Mathematics and Computing College0.9 miles
Secondary · London
-
Harris Science Academy East London0.9 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in London
Central Foundation Girls' School ranks 85th 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 Central Foundation Girls' School teach?
- Central Foundation Girls' School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of Central Foundation Girls' School?
- The headteacher of Central Foundation Girls' School is Ms Carla Prince, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Central Foundation Girls' School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Central Foundation Girls' 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 Central Foundation Girls' School?
- Central Foundation Girls' School has 1,526 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Central Foundation Girls' School full?
- Central Foundation Girls' School has capacity for 1,550 pupils and 1,526 on roll (98%), so it is close to full. 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 Girls' School a faith school?
- No. Central Foundation Girls' School has no designated religious character.
- Is Central Foundation Girls' School a selective school?
- No. Central Foundation Girls' School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Central Foundation Girls' School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 54.6 in 2022/23 and 54.3 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 Girls' School compare with other schools in Tower Hamlets?
- Central Foundation Girls' School ranked 3rd of 17 secondary schools in Tower Hamlets for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 86% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% 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 Girls' School's absence rate?
- Central Foundation Girls' School's overall absence rate is 7.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Central Foundation Girls' School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Central Foundation Girls' 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.