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Woodford County High School

Woodford Green, IG8 9LA · Redbridge · Grammar school

Ofsted: Good · 2022 ★ Selective Girls Secondary
OfstedGood
Pupils1237
FSM15.2%
Progress 8+0.79
A-level avgB+
Qualifying score110.62 2026
Test boardConsortium: Redbridge Selection Test. Two one-hour multiple-choice papers; both Redbridge grammar schools use the same test
AI summary of the Ofsted report Inspected 2023-02-08 · Tap to collapse

Generated by AI from the official inspection report — not written by Ofsted or SchoolsGPT staff. Always read the full Ofsted PDF before relying on this summary.

Overview: Woodford County High School is a grammar school for girls where pupils flourish, both personally and in their academic studies. Pupils are polite, friendly and respectful to all, and leaders ensure that all staff commit to helping pupils achieve their aspirations. Pupils achieve well and secure places at renowned universities.

Strengths:

  • Leaders have designed an ambitious, academic curriculum that is well sequenced and builds up pupils' knowledge and skills in increasing depth and complexity.
  • Teachers use their deep subject knowledge well, presenting and explaining new content clearly and questioning pupils skilfully.
  • Pupils are confident and articulate in contributing their opinions and ideas in lessons, and they produce work of a very high quality.
  • The school provides many trips to enrich the curriculum, including to the bay of Naples and to the First World War battlefields.
  • The school has a true spirit of community, with pupils having access to an extensive and varied range of opportunities to develop their talents and interests.

Areas to improve:

  • Leaders' actions to address the poor attendance of a small minority of pupils are insufficiently systematic and robust, meaning that these pupils miss out on important parts of their education.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with leaders having established a strong culture of safeguarding, providing training and regular updates for staff, and working well with external agencies to provide the help pupils need.

Open official report ↗

Catchment / designated area

Up to 25% of places: Common Catchment Area children eligible for Pupil Premium, ranked by score

Source: https://www.redbridge.gov.uk/schools/school-admissions/redbridge-11-plus/

Ofsted judgement breakdown (2022-11-22)

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Outstanding
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Effectiveness of leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding is effective?
Yes
Sixth form provision (where applicable)
Outstanding

Oversubscription criteria

  1. Looked after — Looked After Children and Previously Looked After Children (incl. those in state care outside England and Wales)
  2. Pupil premium catchment — Up to 25% of places: Common Catchment Area children eligible for Pupil Premium, ranked by score
  3. Catchment — Common Catchment Area children (not Pupil Premium), ranked by score
  4. Outside catchment — Children outside the Common Catchment Area, ranked by score

What the entrance test covers

One shared test for both Redbridge grammar schools (Ilford County High School and Woodford County High School): 1. English and Verbal Reasoning — one hour. 2. Mathematics and Non-Verbal Reasoning — one hour. Scores are age-standardised. A standardised score around the published threshold (historically 104) makes a child ELIGIBLE for consideration — it is a qualifying bar, not a ranking guarantee; oversubscription criteria then decide places. Register once with Redbridge council (historically 1 May to mid-June of Year 5); test in mid-September of Year 6; results by email in mid-October before the 31 October application deadline.

University destinations

Oxbridge
5%
Russell Group
58%
Top-third university
65%
Any degree
95%

Of the 158-student 2019/20 leaver cohort, sustaining a higher-education destination the following year. This is the last cohort the Department for Education published with an Oxbridge/Russell Group breakdown — these categories were discontinued as official accountability measures after this release, so a more recent figure does not exist.

House prices nearby

Median price, Hatch Lane & Highams Park North ward (Year ending Mar 2023)
£476,000

Median price for the school's electoral ward, year ending March 2023 — a neighbourhood-level indicator, not the school's actual admissions catchment (catchments are often smaller than a ward or span parts of several).

Similar schools nearby

Same area, prioritising the same phase — useful for shortlisting alternatives.

Trinity Catholic High School 0.7 mi · Secondary · Good Woodford Green, IG8 0TP Highams Park School 0.7 mi · Secondary · Good London, E4 9PJ Woodbridge High School 0.8 mi · Secondary · Outstanding Woodford Green, IG8 7DQ Bancroft's School 0.9 mi · Secondary Woodford Green, IG8 0RF Frederick Bremer School 1.3 mi · Secondary · Good London, E17 4EY South Chingford Foundation School 1.3 mi · Secondary · Good London, E4 8SG

Data sourced from GIAS, Ofsted and official Redbridge admissions publications. Figures can change year to year — always confirm with the school before applying.

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