Willowfield School
209 Blackhorse Road, Walthamstow, London, E17 6ND
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Ms Rebecca Linden
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- Not Applicable
- Constituency
- Walthamstow
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 1,035
- URN
- 103100
- Local authority
- Waltham Forest
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02085274065
About this school
Willowfield School is a community secondary school in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,035 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. 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- 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 | 171 | 168 | 175 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.7 | 48.1 | 46.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.24 -0.46 to -0.02 | -0.02 -0.24 to +0.20 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 51% | 53% | 54.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 73.2% | 71.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 32% | 40.5% | 34.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.1 |
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 Willowfield 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 | Waltham Forest average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 46.7 | 40.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.1 | 39.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.1 | 39.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 939 |
| 2023/24 | 973 |
| 2024/25 | 1,004 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Willowfield School compares
Willowfield School ranked 11th of 17 secondary schools in Waltham Forest for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.1 | 8.8% | 33.8% | 1,035 | — |
| Eden Girls' School, Waltham Forest | 63.5 | 4.8% | 37.1% | 617 | 0.6 miles |
| Kelmscott School | 43.7 | 7.7% | 37.2% | 1,137 | 0.9 miles |
| Walthamstow School for Girls | 60 | 6.2% | 26.9% | 895 | 1.1 miles |
| Walthamstow Academy | 49.2 | 7.2% | 44.8% | 1,092 | 1.1 miles |
| Gladesmore Community School | 43.8 | 9.4% | 54.8% | 1,206 | 1.2 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)
- 33.76%
- English as an additional language
- 26.4%
- Overall absence
- 8.77%
- Persistent absence
- 28.79%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Eden Girls' School, Waltham Forest0.6 miles
Secondary · London
-
Kelmscott School0.9 miles
Secondary · London
-
Walthamstow School for Girls1.1 miles
Secondary · London
-
Walthamstow Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · London
-
Gladesmore Community School1.2 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in London
Willowfield School ranks 177th 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 Willowfield School teach?
- Willowfield School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of Willowfield School?
- The headteacher of Willowfield School is Ms Rebecca Linden, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Willowfield School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Willowfield 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 Willowfield School?
- Willowfield School has 1,035 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Willowfield School full?
- Willowfield School has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 1,035 on roll (99%), 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 Willowfield School a faith school?
- No. Willowfield School has no designated religious character.
- Is Willowfield School a selective school?
- No. Willowfield School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does Willowfield School have?
- The schools register lists Willowfield School's special educational needs provision as: Not Applicable. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Willowfield School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46.7 in 2022/23 and 46.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Willowfield School rank locally?
- Willowfield School ranked 11th of 17 secondary schools in Waltham Forest for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Willowfield School's absence rate?
- Willowfield School's overall absence rate is 8.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Willowfield School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Willowfield 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.