Valentines High School, Ilford

Ofsted's report card from its 17 March 2026 inspection grades Valentines High School on 7 areas: 4 exceptional and 3 strong standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Exceptional. "Pupils achieve remarkably well across the curriculum."

Attendance and behaviour - Exceptional. "Pupils understand why attendance matters, and they attend school with enthusiasm."

Inclusion - Exceptional. "The school places inclusion at its core."

Leadership and governance - Exceptional. "School leaders and governors create the conditions for pupils to flourish in every aspect of school life."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "The curriculum is ambitious, broad and well designed for pupils to gain knowledge and skills incrementally."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "Pupils benefit from the personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, which is well thought through."

Post 16 provision - Strong standard. "Leaders ensure that students benefit from a high‑quality education during their time here."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue to refine and fully embed oracy practice across subjects to further strengthen pupils' spoken language skills".

In 2026, pupils at Valentines High School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 57.3, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 55.7 in Redbridge and 47 across England.

70% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 63% in Redbridge and 47% in England.

That is down from 59.3 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.91: pupils made well above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 51.4, against 59.6 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 8.2 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 24 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Geography and Business Studies.

For September 2026 entry, 280 families put Valentines High School as their first choice and 1236 named it as one of their preferences, for 171 places offered. That is 1.6 first choices for every place. 138 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Valentines High School are The Ursuline Academy Ilford (0.8 miles, Good, Attainment 8 55.3); Seven Kings School (0.9 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 62); Beal High School (1 mile, Good, Attainment 8 54.8); and Oaks Park High School (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 54.3).

Valentines High School's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

80 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Valentines High School (as of April 2026): 96% would recommend the school, 94% say their child is happy there and 85% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (96%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (85%).

Of the 176 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 97% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 14% to a further education college and 1% into work.

Of the 219 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 75% went on to university or other higher education, 5% to apprenticeships and 5% into work. 22% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

41.1% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are Asian (77%) and Mixed (6%).

In 2026, 71 pupils (5.2%) received SEN support and 57 (4.2%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.

The nearest tram or metro stop is Gants Hill Station, about 220 metres away (roughly a 3-minute walk).

14 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Gants Hill Station / Cranbrook Road, 160 metres away.

In 2024/25, Valentines High School issued 68 suspensions, 5.1 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Valentines High School are Gearies Primary School (0.4 miles), Cranbrook Primary School (0.5 miles), St Augustine's Catholic Primary School (0.5 miles) and Highlands Primary School (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.