Rutlish School
Watery Lane, Merton Park, London, SW20 9AD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary controlled school
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Boys
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Ms Laura Howarth
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Wimbledon
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,500
- Pupils on roll
- 1,471
- URN
- 102679
- Local authority
- Merton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02085421212
About this school
Rutlish School is a boys' voluntary controlled secondary school in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,471 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Rutlish 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
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 | 231 | 229 | 233 |
| Attainment 8 score | 58.8 | 55.2 | 60.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.91 +0.72 to +1.10 | +0.68 +0.48 to +0.88 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 64% | 62.4% | 67.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 84% | 80.8% | 84.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 45% | 57.6% | 48.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.3 | 5.1 | 5.5 |
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 Rutlish 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 | Merton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 58.8 | 42.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 55.2 | 40.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 60.5 | 41.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,458 |
| 2023/24 | 1,477 |
| 2024/25 | 1,491 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Rutlish School compares
Rutlish School ranked 1st of 8 secondary schools in Merton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 93% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 60.5 | 6% | 24.5% | 1,471 | — |
| Ursuline High School Wimbledon | — | — | — | 1,396 | 0.8 miles |
| Wimbledon College | 57 | 6% | 22.2% | 1,266 | 1.0 miles |
| Harris Academy Wimbledon | 58.3 | 7.3% | 42% | 1,073 | 1.0 miles |
| Raynes Park High School | 45.3 | 8.7% | 44.3% | 1,134 | 1.4 miles |
| Ricards Lodge High School | 54.2 | 7% | 26.7% | 1,534 | 1.4 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)
- 24.5%
- English as an additional language
- 50.1%
- Overall absence
- 5.99%
- Persistent absence
- 16.49%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ursuline High School Wimbledon0.8 miles
Secondary · London
-
Wimbledon College1.0 miles
Secondary · London
-
Harris Academy Wimbledon1.0 miles
Secondary · London
-
Raynes Park High School1.4 miles
Secondary · London
-
Ricards Lodge High School1.4 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in London
Rutlish School ranks 34th 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 Rutlish School teach?
- Rutlish School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of Rutlish School?
- The headteacher of Rutlish School is Ms Laura Howarth, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Rutlish School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Rutlish 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 Rutlish School?
- Rutlish School has 1,471 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Rutlish School full?
- Rutlish School has capacity for 1,500 pupils and 1,471 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 Rutlish School a faith school?
- No. Rutlish School has no designated religious character.
- Is Rutlish School a selective school?
- No. Rutlish School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does Rutlish School have?
- The schools register lists Rutlish School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Rutlish School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 58.8 in 2022/23 and 60.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Rutlish School compare with other schools in Merton?
- Rutlish School ranked 1st of 8 secondary schools in Merton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 93% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Rutlish School's absence rate?
- Rutlish School's overall absence rate is 6% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Rutlish School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Rutlish 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.