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State secondary · 11 to 18 · Mixed · 1,253 pupils

Swanlea School

31 Brady Street, Whitechapel, London, E1 5DJ · Tower Hamlets
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Ofsted: Outstanding · April 20241st (1/17)Oversubscribed · 1.4 first choices per place (2026)
School website ↗Google Maps ↗Directions ↗Ofsted reports ↗DfE results ↗Government register ↗

Summary

The key facts, in one place
GCSE (key stage 4) The league rank: the school's place among its council's schools of the same phase on the newest year's DfE results, the same rank as on the Schools map. In England: 307th of 3,223 on the same figure. Band: 1st.
1st (1/17)Rank among 17 Tower Hamlets secondaries with results, 2026 results (Attainment 8)
See the Tower Hamlets league table →
Inspection
Outstanding, April 2024
Getting in
Oversubscribed
Results
+0.81 progress 8; 58.7 attainment 8
Size
1,253 pupils; 192 places a year; classes of 23
Run by
Tower Hamlets council
Type
Community school
Ages
11 to 18 · Mixed
Strengths, and things to check
  • Progress 8: +0.81, against +0.16 in Tower Hamlets.
  • Attainment 8: 58.7, against 48.0 in Tower Hamlets.
  • Oversubscribed: 1.4 first choices for each place (Year 7 2026).
Could your child get in?Enter your postcode to see how far it is from your home.Check a postcode ↓ Schools for usRank every school near you by the measures that matter to your family, each reason shown.Rank schools →

At a glance

i

SourceWhere these figures come from

How it is worked outTower Hamlets and England: DfE's own averages for results. For the rest, the middle state secondary school of the same phase, from every school we hold, since DfE publishes no council figure we hold.

Against Tower Hamlets and England
This schoolTower HamletsEnglandHover or tap a bar for the figures
Academic
Progress 8How far pupils progressed between the end of primary school and GCSEs, against pupils across England who started at the same level. 0 is average; +0.5 means half a grade better in each subject.
+0.81
Better than Tower Hamlets
Attainment 8The average GCSE score across eight subjects, including English and maths counted twice. A grade 5 in all eight would score 50.
58.7
Better than Tower Hamlets
English and maths, grade 5+The share of pupils with grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE (a strong pass).
68%
Better than Tower Hamlets
Attendance and behaviour
Sessions missedHalf-day sessions missed, authorised or not, as a share of all sessions in the school year (DfE pupil absence). Lower is better.
4.0%
Better than Tower Hamlets
Persistently absentPupils who missed one session in ten or more. Lower is better.
8.6%
Better than Tower Hamlets
Suspensions per 100 pupilsSuspensions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. Lower is better; one or two incidents move a small school a lot.
5.7
In line with Tower Hamlets
Pupils and classes
Average class sizeAverage pupils per class, from the school census. Shown for context, not as a score.
23.2
Context
Free school mealsPupils eligible for free school meals. Context for reading the results, not a measure of the school.
44%
Context
Pupils for each teacherPupils on roll for each full-time teacher, from the school workforce census. Shown for context.
15.2
Context
Demand for places
First choices per placeFamilies who put this school first, for each Year 7 place in 2026 (DfE applications and offers). Above 1 means more first choices than places.
1.4
More sought after than Tower Hamlets
COULD YOUR CHILD GET IN? · YEAR 7 2027
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SourceLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets offer-day figures, 2026.

How it is worked outThe bars show how far the last place offered reached each year. A full bar means everyone who applied was offered a place; a dash means we hold no distance for that year. Your postcode is set against each year's last distance.

Things to know
  • A record of past years, not a promise: the distance changes every year with who applies.

Enter your postcode to see how far it is from your home.

London Borough of Tower Hamlets publishes no last distance offered for this school in the years we hold (2026 to 2026). Check your postcode for the distance from your home.

Free, no account needed. Your postcode is used for this check and not kept.

Offers

How far offers reached

How far away the last child offered a place under the distance rule lived, as the council measures it. It changes every year with who applies: a record, not a promise. Children with a higher priority can be offered places from further away.

Year 7. Distance of the last child offered a place on offer day. What the last distance means →

Offer day, year by year

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SourceCouncil offer-day figures: London Borough of Tower Hamlets, 2026 to 2026.

Things to know
  • Distances are straight lines from the school.
EntryYearPlacesApplicationsOfferedRefusedLast distance (miles)
Year 72026210870———

A dash is a figure the council does not publish, not nought.

Could you get in?Enter a home or postcode: we set it against every year's last offer and this school's rules.

Results

Quality

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SourceOfsted · inspected 24 April 2024
DfE school performance tables · 2023/2024
DfE school performance tables · 2025/2026

  • Outstanding
  • Progress 8: +0.81 (England +0.01) (county +0.16)
  • Attainment 8: 58.7 (England 47.4) (county 48.0)
  • English and maths grade 5 or above: 68% (England 48%) (county 51%)
  • Progress, set against pupils who started with the same results: well above average

Results

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SourceDfE school performance tables, 2023/2024, 2024/2025, 2025/2026.

MeasureThis schoolEnglandCouncilYear
Progress 8+0.81+0.01+0.162023/2024
Attainment 858.747.448.02025/2026
English and maths grade 5 or above68%48%51%2025/2026
Average A level gradeB-——2024/2025

League table place

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SourceDfE school performance tables: the newest year's results, place among the council's schools of the same phase.

TableLeague rank
GCSE (key stage 4)1st (1/17)
A level (16 to 18)Top 38% (6/16)

Where leavers go

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SourceDfE, destination measures.

Things to know
  • A figure DfE hides for a small group is left out, not shown as nought. The newest year may be provisional.
StageLeavers inPupilsIn a sustained placeOf which
After GCSEs2023/2420594%In education 94%; Apprenticeship 0.0%; Employment 0.0%
After GCSEs2022/2320897%In education 95%; Apprenticeship 0.5%; Employment 1.4%
After GCSEs2021/2220897%In education 96%; Apprenticeship 0.0%; Employment 1.0%
After sixth form2023/2412480%Further education 0.8%; Apprenticeship 8.1%; Employment 9.7%
After sixth form2022/2311982%Further education 0.0%; Apprenticeship 4.2%; Employment 11%
After sixth form2021/229784%Further education 0.0%; Apprenticeship 1.0%; Employment 16%
Tower Hamlets league tableEvery school of this phase in the council on these results.See the table →

Daily life and who goes there

Daily life

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SourceDfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level · 2024/25
DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level · 2024/25
DfE, school workforce and pupil census · 2025/26
DfE, school workforce · November 2025
DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes) · within 800 m
DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years · 2021 to 2025
DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps · 2024

  • Absence: 4.0% of sessions missed; 8.6% of pupils miss 1 in 10 or more. Schools with a similar intake: 9.7% and 29%
  • Suspensions: 6 per 100 pupils (schools with a similar intake: 26); 2 permanent exclusions
  • Classes average 23.2 pupils; 12% of classes have more than 30
  • 15.2 pupils for each teacher
  • Nearest stops, in a straight line: tram or metro 137 m, rail 144 m, bus 173 m
  • 385 police-reported road collisions within 500 m (0 fatal, 51 serious)
  • Air: nitrogen dioxide 27.8 µg/m³, PM2.5 10.2 (1 km square, background level)

Absence

i

SourceDfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level, 2024-25.

Things to know
  • Similar intake: state schools of the same phase with free school meals in the same band (40% or more), the median of 758 schools.
YearSessions missedAuthorisedUnauthorisedPupils missing 1 in 10Pupils missing 1 in 2
2024/254.0%3.1%0.9%8.6%0.3%
2023/244.3%3.3%1.0%9.7%0.2%
2022/233.6%2.4%1.2%5.8%0.1%
Schools with a similar intake9.7%29%

Suspensions and exclusions

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SourceDfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level, 2024-25.

YearSuspensions per 100 pupilsPupils suspendedSuspensionsPermanent exclusions
2024/255.74.1%732
2023/243.33.0%432
2022/230.50.5%61
Schools with a similar intake25.9

Class sizes and staff

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SourceDfE, school workforce; school census, 2025/26.

MeasureFigureYear
Average class size23.22025/26
Classes over 30 pupils12%2025/26
Pupils for each teacher15.2November 2025

Stops nearby

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SourceDfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes), current.

Things to know
  • A stop across a railway or main road may be a long walk. Bus frequency is not held.
KindNearest (metres, straight line)
tram or metro137
rail144
bus173

Road collisions within 500 m

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SourceDfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years, 2021 to 2025.

Things to know
  • 51 serious and 0 fatal in all; 73 involved a pedestrian, 136 a cyclist. Only collisions with an injury reported to police are counted.
YearCollisions
202569
202475
202394
202269
202178

Air quality

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SourceDEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps.

Things to know
  • A 1 km background figure: not the air at the school gate beside a busy road.
PollutantAnnual mean (µg/m³)Year
NO227.82024
PM1017.42024
PM2510.22024

Who goes there

i

SourceDfE, schools, pupils and their characteristics; special educational needs, 2025/26.

MeasureShare of pupilsYear
Eligible for free school meals44%2025/26
First language other than English19%2025/26
SEN support11%2025/26
Education, health and care plan7.5%2025/26
Girls38%2025/26

Ofsted

Ofsted, April 2024The judgements from the school's latest inspection. Reports from November 2025 use Ofsted's new report card, with different headings; we show whichever the latest report uses.Read the report ↗
Quality of educationOutstanding
Behaviour and attitudesOutstanding
Leadership and managementOutstanding

Inspections

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SourceOfsted, 2024.

DateKindOutcome
24 April 2024Graded inspectionOutstanding

Admissions

Getting in

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SourceDfE, school applications and offers · Year 7 2026

  • 276 families put it first for 192 places; 187 of them got in
  • We hold no catchment map for this school, so we can't say which addresses are inside it.

Applications and offers, DfE

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SourceDfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence), 2014 to 2026.

Things to know
  • Families name up to three schools, so most applications are somebody's second or third choice.
EntryYearPlacesFirst choicesAny choiceFirst choices offered
Year 72026192276857187
Year 72025194308954182
Year 720241983291,001183
Year 720231953521,032184
Year 72022199312959187
Year 72021197261864175
Year 72020195224889162
Year 72019197204863160
Year 72018202170852151
Year 72017198168870137

Feeder school rules

i

SourceThe admission arrangements the school or council published.

How it is worked outQuoted word for word from those arrangements.

Things to know
  • Check the quote against the school's own current admission policy before you rely on it: rules change each year.

We found no priority for named primary schools in the arrangements for 2027/28 (the document). Our tools read it, but nobody has read it line by line.

Who runs it

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SourceDfE, Get Information about Schools

  • Community school is run by its local council (Tower Hamlets), not by an academy trust.

Fees and clubs

State schools charge no tuition fees. Breakfast clubs, after-school clubs and holiday clubs are set by each school: ask the school what it runs and what it costs.

Childcare costsWhat wraparound care and early years places cost, and what funding covers.See costs →

Nearby

Schools nearby

Wapping High School0.4 miLondon Enterprise Academy0.4 miMulberry School for Girls0.5 miOaklands School0.6 miCompare side by side →

Nurseries nearby

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SourceOfsted early years register.

Rainbow House Whitechapel0.2 miles
Women's Inclusive Team Ltd0.2 miles
Rainbow Angels Nurseries & Learning Centres0.3 miles
Weavers Fields Community Nursery0.3 miles
Homes in reach of this schoolLook up any home near here: its sales, an open-data valuation, and which schools it keeps in reach.Search homes →

Sources

  • Council offer-day figures: London Borough of Tower Hamlets
  • DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps
  • DfE school performance tables
  • DfE school performance tables: the newest year's results, place among the council's schools of the same phase
  • DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence)
  • DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level
  • DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level
  • DfE, destination measures
  • DfE, school workforce; school census
  • DfE, schools, pupils and their characteristics; special educational needs
  • DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes)
  • DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years
  • Ofsted
  • School register: DfE Get Information about Schools, updated 17 October 2026 (this school)
  • How we check these figures: How we know

More in schools in London and the Tower Hamlets league table.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources and methods: tap the (i) on each section. How we know · All sources.