Valentines High School
Cranbrook Road, Ilford, IG2 6HX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Richard Laws
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Ilford North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,288
- Pupils on roll
- 1,357
- URN
- 102857
- Local authority
- Redbridge
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02085543608
About this school
Valentines High School is a community secondary school in Ilford. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,357 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Valentines High 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 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
- Exceptional
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Exceptional
- Attendance and behaviour
- Exceptional
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Exceptional
- Post-16 provision
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 179 | 176 | 168 |
| Attainment 8 score | 57.1 | 59.0 | 59.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.98 +0.77 to +1.20 | +0.91 +0.70 to +1.12 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 70% | 68.8% | 76.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 82% | 88.1% | 84.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 51% | 48.9% | 54.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.2 | 5.4 | 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 Valentines High 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 | Redbridge average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 57.1 | 50.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 59 | 52.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 59.3 | 50 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,346 |
| 2023/24 | 1,349 |
| 2024/25 | 1,329 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Valentines High School compares
Valentines High School ranked 3rd of 19 secondary schools in Redbridge for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 92% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 38% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 59.3 | 6.1% | 25.1% | 1,357 | — |
| The Ursuline Academy Ilford | 56.1 | 9.1% | 24.4% | 743 | 0.8 miles |
| Beal High School | 52 | 5.2% | 20% | 2,615 | 1.0 miles |
| Oaks Park High School | 53.5 | 6.7% | 22.5% | 1,783 | 1.1 miles |
| Ilford County High School | 75.7 | 5.5% | 12.2% | 1,115 | 1.3 miles |
| Wanstead High School | 54.1 | 8.2% | 18.1% | 1,434 | 1.3 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
-
Graded inspection report17 March 2026
- 5 October 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 25.08%
- English as an additional language
- 43.1%
- Overall absence
- 6.07%
- Persistent absence
- 16.54%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Ursuline Academy Ilford0.8 miles
Secondary · Ilford
-
Beal High School1.0 miles
Secondary · Ilford
-
Oaks Park High School1.1 miles
Secondary · Ilford
-
Ilford County High School1.3 miles
Secondary · Ilford
-
Wanstead High School1.3 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in Ilford
Valentines High School ranks 2nd of the 12 ranked secondary schools in Ilford.
- Beal High School Secondary
- Caterham High School Secondary
- Forest Academy Secondary
- Ilford County High School Secondary
- King Solomon High School Secondary
- Oaks Park High School Secondary
- The Palmer Catholic Academy Secondary
- The Ursuline Academy Ilford Secondary
- Al-Noor Voluntary Aided Muslim Primary School Primary
- Aldborough Primary School Primary
- Christchurch Primary School Primary
- Cleveland Road Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Valentines High School teach?
- Valentines High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Ilford.
- Who is the headteacher of Valentines High School?
- The headteacher of Valentines High School is Mr Richard Laws, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Valentines High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Valentines High 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 Valentines High School?
- Valentines High School has 1,357 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Valentines High School full?
- Valentines High School has capacity for 1,288 pupils and 1,357 on roll (105%), 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 Valentines High School a faith school?
- No. Valentines High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Valentines High School a selective school?
- No. Valentines High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Valentines High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 57.1 in 2022/23 and 59.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Valentines High School compare with other schools in Redbridge?
- Valentines High School ranked 3rd of 19 secondary schools in Redbridge for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 92% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 38% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Valentines High School's absence rate?
- Valentines High School's overall absence rate is 6.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Valentines High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Valentines High 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.