Riverside School
Renwick Road, Barking, IG11 0FU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- PARTNERSHIP LEARNING
- Headteacher
- Mr Andrew Roberts
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Partnership Learning
- Constituency
- Barking
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,824
- Pupils on roll
- 1,550
- URN
- 139791
- Local authority
- Barking and Dagenham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02039465888
About this school
Riverside School is a secondary academy in Barking. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,550 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Riverside School, 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. 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 | 227 | 240 | 247 |
| Attainment 8 score | 55.5 | 54.4 | 55.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +1.07 +0.88 to +1.26 | +0.78 +0.60 to +0.97 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 60% | 56.3% | 59.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 78% | 74.6% | 83% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 85% | 86.3% | 85% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.2 |
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 Riverside 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 | Barking and Dagenham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 55.5 | 44.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 54.4 | 41.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 55.5 | 43.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,379 |
| 2023/24 | 1,417 |
| 2024/25 | 1,542 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Riverside School compares
Riverside School ranked 3rd of 13 secondary schools in Barking and Dagenham 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 83% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 55.5 | 4% | 33.9% | 1,550 | — |
| Jo Richardson Community School | 50.2 | 6.2% | 38.6% | 1,696 | 0.9 miles |
| Woolwich Polytechnic School | 45.2 | 6.8% | 36.6% | 1,565 | 1.3 miles |
| Woolwich Polytechnic School for Girls | 47.5 | 7.6% | 41.3% | 1,120 | 1.3 miles |
| Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities College | 49.7 | 6.9% | 30.8% | 2,418 | 1.6 miles |
| Greatfields School | 45.6 | 9.3% | 36.8% | 1,248 | 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)
- 33.89%
- English as an additional language
- 29.4%
- Overall absence
- 4.03%
- Persistent absence
- 7.85%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Jo Richardson Community School0.9 miles
Secondary · Dagenham
-
Woolwich Polytechnic School1.3 miles
Secondary · London
-
Woolwich Polytechnic School for Girls1.3 miles
Secondary · Thamesmead
-
Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities College1.6 miles
Secondary · Barking
-
Greatfields School1.6 miles
Secondary · Barking
Other schools in Barking
- Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities College Secondary
- Greatfields School Secondary
- Eastbury Primary School Primary
- Gascoigne Primary School Primary
- George Carey Church of England Primary School Primary
- Greatfields Primary School Primary
- Manor Junior School Primary
- Northbury Primary School Primary
- Ripple Primary School Primary
- Riverside Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Margarets CofE Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Riverside School teach?
- Riverside School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Barking.
- Who is the headteacher of Riverside School?
- The headteacher of Riverside School is Mr Andrew Roberts, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Riverside School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Riverside 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 Riverside School?
- Riverside School has 1,550 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Riverside School full?
- Riverside School has capacity for 1,824 pupils and 1,550 on roll (85%), 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 Riverside School a faith school?
- No. Riverside School has no designated religious character.
- Is Riverside School a selective school?
- No. Riverside School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Riverside School part of an academy trust?
- Riverside School is part of PARTNERSHIP LEARNING. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Riverside School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 55.5 in 2022/23 and 55.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Riverside School compare with other schools in Barking and Dagenham?
- Riverside School ranked 3rd of 13 secondary schools in Barking and Dagenham 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 83% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Riverside School's absence rate?
- Riverside School's overall absence rate is 4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Riverside School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Riverside 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 1 July 2026.