Highgate Wood Secondary School
Montenotte Road, London, N8 8RN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Patrick Cozier
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Hornsey and Friern Barnet
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,465
- Pupils on roll
- 1,524
- URN
- 102154
- Local authority
- Haringey
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02083427970
About this school
Highgate Wood Secondary School is a community secondary school in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,524 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 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected 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 | 266 | 262 | 266 |
| Attainment 8 score | 53.9 | 50.8 | 56.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.15 -0.03 to +0.33 | +0.26 +0.08 to +0.44 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 63% | 50.8% | 62.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 76% | 70.2% | 79.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 25% | 26.3% | 32% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.7 | 4.4 | 5.0 |
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 Highgate Wood Secondary 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 | Haringey average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 53.9 | 40.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.8 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 56.3 | 36.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,578 |
| 2023/24 | 1,554 |
| 2024/25 | 1,543 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Highgate Wood Secondary School compares
Highgate Wood Secondary School ranked 3rd of 12 secondary schools in Haringey for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 89% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 56.3 | 5.2% | 25.6% | 1,524 | — |
| Greig City Academy | 41.6 | 9.9% | 43.2% | 1,137 | 0.8 miles |
| Hornsey School for Girls | 49.7 | 11.5% | 32.7% | 560 | 0.8 miles |
| St Aloysius' College | — | — | — | 341 | 0.8 miles |
| City of London Academy, Highgate Hill | 40.3 | 7.3% | 64.6% | 641 | 0.9 miles |
| Fortismere School | 58.1 | 7% | 15.2% | 1,746 | 1.1 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)
- 25.62%
- English as an additional language
- 22.1%
- Overall absence
- 5.16%
- Persistent absence
- 12.44%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Greig City Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · London
-
Hornsey School for Girls0.8 miles
Secondary · London
-
St Aloysius' College0.8 miles
Secondary · London
-
City of London Academy, Highgate Hill0.9 miles
Secondary · London
-
Fortismere School1.1 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in London
Highgate Wood Secondary School ranks 66th 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 Highgate Wood Secondary School teach?
- Highgate Wood Secondary School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of Highgate Wood Secondary School?
- The headteacher of Highgate Wood Secondary School is Mr Patrick Cozier, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Highgate Wood Secondary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Highgate Wood Secondary 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 Highgate Wood Secondary School?
- Highgate Wood Secondary School has 1,524 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Highgate Wood Secondary School full?
- Highgate Wood Secondary School has capacity for 1,465 pupils and 1,524 on roll (104%), 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 Highgate Wood Secondary School a faith school?
- No. Highgate Wood Secondary School has no designated religious character.
- Is Highgate Wood Secondary School a selective school?
- No. Highgate Wood Secondary School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Highgate Wood Secondary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 53.9 in 2022/23 and 56.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Highgate Wood Secondary School rank locally?
- Highgate Wood Secondary School ranked 3rd of 12 secondary schools in Haringey for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 89% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Highgate Wood Secondary School's absence rate?
- Highgate Wood Secondary School's overall absence rate is 5.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Highgate Wood Secondary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Highgate Wood Secondary 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.