Chingford Foundation School

About Chingford Foundation School

Chingford Foundation School’s headline Progress 8 score of -0.14 places it slightly below the Waltham Forest local authority average of -0.07, meaning its pupils achieve outcomes a touch less than expected compared with peers nationally. That gap is modest, but it’s worth noting that the school sits 9th out of 19 secondary schools in the borough, putting it in the middle of the pack. Its Attainment 8 score of 46.2 and basics pass rate of 62.1 per cent at grade 4 or above in English and maths are solid figures for a state comprehensive, though the school’s EBacc entry rate of just 18.5 per cent is low, suggesting a curriculum that doesn’t push the full suite of academic subjects as strongly as some neighbours. The school’s ranking in London (390th out of 487) and nationally (1880th out of 3141) confirms it sits in the bottom half of the country by Progress 8, but it’s not an outlier — it’s broadly in line with the typical state secondary in the area.

Academically, the picture is mixed. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2023 upgraded it from Requires Improvement to Good across all categories, including behaviour, leadership, and personal development. That’s a meaningful turnaround. In the 2023/24 GCSE results, English Progress 8 was exactly in line with the national average at 0.04, but maths Progress 8 was -0.31, a clear weak spot. The EBacc average point score of 3.92 is below the national average, and only 8.5 per cent of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths. At A-level, the picture brightens: the school’s value-added score of 0.32 is rated ‘Above average’, with pupils making stronger progress than similar students nationally. The average points per entry of 33.88 equates to a C+ grade, and the best three A-levels average out at C+ too. For a school with a relatively high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals (25.9 per cent), these sixth-form results are a genuine strength.

The school is heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26, it received 429 applications for 162 places, a ratio of 2.65 applicants per place, with 134 first-preference offers made. That suggests strong local demand. Facilities include science labs, a theatre, a sixth-form centre, and sports provision for hockey, rowing, gymnastics, tennis, badminton, and cricket. Clubs range from Model UN and DofE to gardening and film club, offering breadth beyond the classroom. The school’s SEND register is comprehensive, covering dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional needs, speech and language issues, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. Chingford Foundation School will suit families who want a large, inclusive state secondary with a good sixth form, where behaviour and personal development have recently been judged strong, and where the academic focus is broad rather than exclusively academic — particularly if your child might benefit from the school’s above-average sixth-form progress.

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