The Sacred Heart Language College

About The Sacred Heart Language College

The Sacred Heart Language College is a Roman Catholic girls' secondary school in Harrow, one of six schools in the borough rated Outstanding by Ofsted. In the local authority's rankings for Progress 8, it sits sixth out of 13 schools, placing it in the top half of Harrow's secondary landscape. The three highest-performing peers in the area are Avanti House School, Bentley Wood High School, and Whitmore High School, all of which post stronger Progress 8 scores. Sacred Heart's own score of 0.56 is well above the national average and comfortably exceeds the Harrow LA average of 0.36, meaning pupils here make significantly more progress than students in similar schools across the borough. The school is heavily oversubscribed: for 148 places in 2025/26, it received 295 applications, with 93 first-preference offers. That level of demand suggests a strong local reputation, particularly among Catholic families, though the school's admissions criteria will also reflect its religious character.

Academically, Sacred Heart delivers strong results across the board. Its Attainment 8 score of 59.6 is high, and 79 per cent of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, with 64.6 per cent reaching grade 5 or above. The EBacc entry rate is 87.3 per cent, well above the national average, and 65.2 per cent of pupils achieved the EBacc at grade 4 or above. Progress 8 is rated as 'well above average' nationally, with particularly strong progress in English (0.69) and EBacc subjects (0.89). Maths progress is slightly negative at -0.21, but this is offset by strong performance elsewhere. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection in November 2024 judged quality of education, personal development, and leadership and management all as Outstanding, while behaviour and attitudes were rated Good. This is consistent with its previous inspection in 2014, which also awarded Outstanding overall.

The school offers a wide range of facilities including a swimming pool, theatre, astro turf, and music rooms, and runs clubs from orchestra and choir to Model UN, coding, and Young Enterprise. Sports provision is broad, with rowing, martial arts, hockey, and gymnastics among the options. SEND support covers eight categories including dyslexia, autistic spectrum disorder, and speech, language and communication needs. Parent View responses from 90 families in the 2024/25 period show 73 per cent would recommend the school. Strong majorities agreed that their child is happy (78 per cent combined strongly agree/agree), feels safe (82 per cent), and that the school has high expectations (82 per cent). However, only 64 per cent agreed that SEND children receive the support they need, and 28 per cent disagreed, which is worth noting for families with specific needs. The school has no sixth form, so pupils will need to plan for post-16 options elsewhere. It suits families who value strong academic progress, a Catholic ethos, and a well-resourced environment in a popular London borough.

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