School 21
Pitchford Street, Stratford, E15 4RZ
- Phase
- All-through
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 4 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- BIG EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Moray Dickson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Stratford and Bow
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 1,080
- URN
- 138196
- Local authority
- Newham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02082622121
About this school
School 21 is an all-through academy in Stratford. It teaches children aged 4 to 18 and has 1,080 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected School 21, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 76 | 73 | 68 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 47% | 64% | 65% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 8% | 9% |
| Expected standard in reading | 61% | 75% | 81% |
| Expected standard in maths | 61% | 75% | 79% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 71% | 75% | 74% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 105.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.60 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 76 | 71 | 71 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.3 | 45.9 | 47.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.33 -0.65 to -0.01 | -0.05 -0.39 to +0.29 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 47.9% | 47.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 63% | 67.6% | 66.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 46% | 31% | 15.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.2 |
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 School 21 has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Newham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 47% | 69.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 64% | 72.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 65% | 74.2% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Newham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44.3 | 46.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.9 | 46.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47.8 | 47.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,197 |
| 2023/24 | 1,118 |
| 2024/25 | 1,098 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How School 21 compares
School 21 ranked 13th of 20 secondary schools in Newham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 68% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 22% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47.8 | 7.3% | 48.2% | 1,080 | — |
| Bobby Moore Academy | 45.6 | 11.1% | 49.8% | 971 | 0.8 miles |
| Harris Academy Chobham | 49.5 | 6.4% | 45.9% | 2,047 | 0.9 miles |
| Buxton School | 45.2 | 7.2% | 40.1% | 1,065 | 1.4 miles |
| St Paul's Way Trust School | 51.8 | 5.4% | 54.8% | 1,866 | 1.8 miles |
| George Mitchell School | 47 | 7.5% | 37.3% | 973 | 2.2 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 48.16%
- English as an additional language
- 37.5%
- Overall absence
- 7.3%
- Persistent absence
- 23.54%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bobby Moore Academy0.8 miles
All-through · London
-
Harris Academy Chobham0.9 miles
All-through · London
-
Buxton School1.4 miles
All-through · London
-
St Paul's Way Trust School1.8 miles
All-through · London
-
George Mitchell School2.2 miles
All-through · London
Common questions
- What ages does School 21 teach?
- School 21 teaches children aged 4 to 18. It is an all-through school in Stratford.
- Who is the headteacher of School 21?
- The headteacher of School 21 is Mr Moray Dickson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has School 21 been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected School 21, 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 School 21?
- School 21 has 1,080 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 18.
- Is School 21 full?
- School 21 has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 1,080 on roll (90%), so it has space against 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 School 21 a faith school?
- No. School 21 has no designated religious character.
- Is School 21 a selective school?
- No. School 21 is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Does School 21 have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records School 21 as having no nursery classes.
- Is School 21 part of an academy trust?
- School 21 is part of BIG EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have School 21's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 47% in 2022/23 and 65% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does School 21 compare with other schools in Newham?
- School 21 ranked 13th of 20 secondary schools in Newham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 68% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 22% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is School 21's absence rate?
- School 21's overall absence rate is 7.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are School 21's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, School 21'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 1 July 2026.