Highlands School
148 Worlds End Lane, London, N21 1QQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Vincent McInerney
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- HI - Hearing Impairment
- Constituency
- Southgate and Wood Green
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,589
- Pupils on roll
- 1,694
- URN
- 132256
- Local authority
- Enfield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02083701100
About this school
Highlands School is a community secondary school in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,694 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 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 | 237 | 235 |
| Attainment 8 score | 54.0 | 54.8 | 55.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.52 +0.33 to +0.71 | +0.42 +0.24 to +0.60 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 58% | 61.6% | 64.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 76% | 81.4% | 79.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 77% | 84.4% | 88.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.0 | 5.1 | 5.3 |
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 Highlands 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 | Enfield average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 54 | 42.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 54.8 | 40.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 55.6 | 37.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,547 |
| 2023/24 | 1,599 |
| 2024/25 | 1,650 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Highlands School compares
Highlands School ranked 3rd of 21 secondary schools in Enfield for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 88% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 41% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 55.6 | 5.8% | 17.7% | 1,694 | — |
| Enfield Grammar School | 49 | 7.2% | 30.9% | 1,004 | 1.1 miles |
| Enfield County School for Girls | 52 | 8.7% | 35.4% | 999 | 1.1 miles |
| Wren Academy Enfield | 58.3 | 6.4% | 11.3% | 1,024 | 1.2 miles |
| Southgate School | 51.1 | 8.4% | 24.5% | 1,447 | 1.4 miles |
| Winchmore School | 46.2 | 7.8% | 28.9% | 1,859 | 1.6 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 17.7%
- English as an additional language
- 13.9%
- Overall absence
- 5.83%
- Persistent absence
- 13%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Enfield Grammar School1.1 miles
Secondary · Enfield
-
Enfield County School for Girls1.1 miles
Secondary · Enfield
-
Wren Academy Enfield1.2 miles
Secondary · Enfield
-
Southgate School1.4 miles
Secondary · Barnet
-
Winchmore School1.6 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in London
Highlands School ranks 71st 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 Highlands School teach?
- Highlands School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of Highlands School?
- The headteacher of Highlands School is Mr Vincent McInerney, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Highlands School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Highlands 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 Highlands School?
- Highlands School has 1,694 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Highlands School full?
- Highlands School has capacity for 1,589 pupils and 1,694 on roll (107%), 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 Highlands School a faith school?
- No. Highlands School has no designated religious character.
- Is Highlands School a selective school?
- No. Highlands School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does Highlands School have?
- The schools register lists Highlands School's special educational needs provision as: HI - Hearing Impairment. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Highlands School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 54 in 2022/23 and 55.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Highlands School rank locally?
- Highlands School ranked 3rd of 21 secondary schools in Enfield for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 88% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 41% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Highlands School's absence rate?
- Highlands School's overall absence rate is 5.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Highlands School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Highlands 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 30 June 2026.