Waterside Academy
317-319 Kingsland Road, London, E8 4DL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- COMMUNITY SCHOOLS TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Amy Brown
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Community Schools Trust
- Constituency
- Hackney South and Shoreditch
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 500
- Pupils on roll
- 351
- URN
- 147653
- Local authority
- Hackney
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02038707500
About this school
Waterside Academy is a secondary academy in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 351 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Waterside Academy, 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 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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- 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 | 90 | 93 | 78 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.0 | 48.2 | 44.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.71 +0.36 to +1.07 | +1.04 +0.68 to +1.40 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 44% | 60.2% | 41% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 60% | 67.7% | 61.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 69% | 57% | 38.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.5 | 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 Waterside Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Hackney average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 46 | 41.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.2 | 40.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.6 | 41.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 392 |
| 2023/24 | 401 |
| 2024/25 | 374 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Waterside Academy compares
Waterside Academy ranked 12th of 16 secondary schools in Hackney for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.6 | 7.8% | 64.4% | 351 | — |
| The Bridge Academy | 56.9 | 8% | 59.1% | 1,070 | 0.3 miles |
| Haggerston School | 52.7 | 6.5% | 49.4% | 939 | 0.5 miles |
| City of London Academy, Shoreditch Park | 54.3 | 8.3% | 60.1% | 914 | 0.6 miles |
| Mulberry Academy Shoreditch | 45 | 6.7% | 67.3% | 1,457 | 0.8 miles |
| City of London Academy Islington | 40.8 | 14.1% | 70.1% | 852 | 0.9 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 report27 January 2026
- 9 February 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 64.44%
- English as an additional language
- 39.6%
- Overall absence
- 7.84%
- Persistent absence
- 25.84%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Bridge Academy0.3 miles
Secondary · London
-
Haggerston School0.5 miles
Secondary · London
-
City of London Academy, Shoreditch Park0.6 miles
Secondary · London
-
Mulberry Academy Shoreditch0.8 miles
Secondary · London
-
City of London Academy Islington0.9 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in London
Waterside Academy ranks 201st 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 ages does Waterside Academy teach?
- Waterside Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of Waterside Academy?
- The headteacher of Waterside Academy is Ms Amy Brown, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Waterside Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Waterside Academy, 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 Waterside Academy?
- Waterside Academy has 351 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Waterside Academy full?
- Waterside Academy has capacity for 500 pupils and 351 on roll (70%), 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 Waterside Academy a faith school?
- No. Waterside Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Waterside Academy a selective school?
- No. Waterside Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Waterside Academy part of an academy trust?
- Waterside Academy is part of COMMUNITY SCHOOLS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Waterside Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46 in 2022/23 and 44.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Waterside Academy compare with other schools in Hackney?
- Waterside Academy ranked 12th of 16 secondary schools in Hackney for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Waterside Academy's absence rate?
- Waterside Academy's overall absence rate is 7.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Waterside Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Waterside Academy'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 10 July 2026.