Canary Wharf College Crossharbour
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Canary Wharf College Crossharbour is a free school in London for boys and girls aged 11 to 19. It has 417 pupils and room for 462. About 28 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. We give it 43 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 55% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was requires improvement, back in 2024.
7 Selsdon Way, London, E14 9GL020 3383 6100canarywharfcollege.co.ukMr Geoff Roberts headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 9 May 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Requires improvement overall.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
105 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | Tower Hamlets | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 105 | 76 | 79 | 33 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 52.9 | 53.4 | 49.6 | 58.0 | 46.5 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | +0.32 | +0.13 | +0.45 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 57% | 67% | 58% | 58% | 46% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 71% | 76% | 71% | 76% | 66% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 4.73 | 4.84 | 4.73 | 5.66 | 4.18 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 41% | 61% | 78% | 82% | 51% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 42.5 | 44.8 | 41.0 | 47.1 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 59.6 | 59.0 | 57.1 | 67.0 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 21.9 | 21.5 | – | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 69.7 | 68.1 | 71.3 | – | – |
Subjects
Results came out for 17 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Strongest subjects
Subjects that did worse than the England average: Social Studies (39% here, 54% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 103 | 39% | 60% | 76% | 53% | 928 of 3,211 |
| English Language | 103 | 25% | 64% | 79% | 54% | 732 of 3,210 |
| English Literature | 101 | 40% | 69% | 79% | 58% | 652 of 3,202 |
| Combined Science | 62 | 13% | 32% | 55% | 36% | 1,679 of 3,084 |
| Spanish | 60 | 38% | 65% | 80% | 54% | 628 of 1,941 |
| Art and Design | 45 | 29% | 71% | 71% | 58% | 811 of 2,818 |
| History | 41 | 29% | 63% | 76% | 52% | 771 of 3,126 |
| Physics | 40 | 63% | 93% | 100% | 82% | 954 of 2,546 |
| Chemistry | 40 | 60% | 93% | 100% | 81% | 952 of 2,537 |
| Biology | 40 | 53% | 90% | 98% | 82% | 1,112 of 2,570 |
| Physical Education | 31 | 23% | 48% | 68% | 56% | 974 of 1,559 |
| Geography | 28 | 54% | 71% | 79% | 51% | 394 of 3,116 |
| Social Studies | 26 | 4% | 39% | 54% | 54% | 822 of 1,043 |
| Religious Studies | 26 | 31% | 65% | 81% | 60% | 794 of 1,825 |
| Computer Science | 26 | 42% | 81% | 92% | 56% | 273 of 1,861 |
| Other Modern Languages | 20 | 35% | 35% | 35% | 49% | 390 of 454 |
| Music | 6 | 33% | 33% | 67% | 61% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. None of the gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published. As a Christian school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
The school is full, with 54 more pupils than it has places for. More families apply than can get in, so things like how close you live and whether an older brother or sister is already here decide who gets a place. Pupil numbers have grown by 13% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Tower Hamlets council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (43), Autistic spectrum disorder (19), language and communications needs (17), Specific learning difficulty (16), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (10), Other difficulty or disability (5).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 417 | 462 | 484 | 454 | 404 | 345 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 29% | 34% | 34% | 35% | 34% | 33% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 24% | 28% | 25% | 24% | 25% | 24% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 21% | 17% | 13% | 13% | 13% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 8% | 8% | 7% | 6% | 6% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.9% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 7.1% | 7.6% | 10.2% | 11.2% | 5.7% | 4.0% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.5% | 5.6% | 7.9% | 9.4% | 5.0% | 3.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.6% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1.8% | 0.8% | 0.3% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 17.0% | 20.2% | 26.8% | 30.1% | 17.1% | 9.9% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 29.9 | 8.1 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 79 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 86%, compared with 93% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 90% | 82% | 87% |
| Education | 87% | 82% | 87% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 3% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 6% | 12% | 11% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Green's School | Voluntary | 870 m | 1,256 | Good 2022 | 70 | Compare |
| Bacon's College | Academy | 1.3 miles | 1,025 | Good 2022 | 70 | Compare |
| St Ursula's Convent School | Roman Catholic | 1.4 miles | 481 | Report card 2025 | 76 | Compare |
| Langdon Park Community School | Council | 1.4 miles | 1,055 | Report card 2026 | 36 | Compare |
| Deptford Green School | Council | 1.5 miles | 888 | Good 2022 | 57 | Compare |
| Addey and Stanhope School | Voluntary | 1.5 miles | 589 | Good 2023 | 24 | Compare |
| The John Roan School | Academy | 1.5 miles | 1,112 | Good 2023 | 36 | Compare |
| St Paul's Way Trust School | Academy | 1.7 miles | 1,866 | Good 2022 | 82 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Canary Wharf College Crossharbour with the 41 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 41 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 41 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Canary Wharf College Crossharbour, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Thomas More Catholic Comprehensive School | Academy | 4.6 miles | 637 | Good 2022 | 86 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 43 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 43% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 31 to 55. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 20% | above | +0.07 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 105 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | well below | -0.43 | Ofsted grade, 2.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | in line | +0.06 | DfE progress measure; 105 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | above | +0.04 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.05 | 2024/25; 483 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | above | +0.09 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 105 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 5% | in line | -0.01 | 79 pupils |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Canary Wharf College Crossharbour a good school?
It is about average. Canary Wharf College Crossharbour scores 43 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 55% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 31 to 55, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Canary Wharf College Crossharbour's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Canary Wharf College Crossharbour requires improvement at its last full inspection on 9 May 2024.
How good are Canary Wharf College Crossharbour's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 57% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 52.9, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished about half a grade ahead of children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Canary Wharf College Crossharbour have?
417 pupils aged 11 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 462 places, so it is 90% full.
Is Canary Wharf College Crossharbour oversubscribed?
Probably. The school was full in 2024/25, with 54 more pupils than places. How close you live, and the school's other admissions rules, decide who gets in.
What is attendance like at Canary Wharf College Crossharbour?
Pupils were in school 92.9% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 17% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Canary Wharf College Crossharbour?
The average class had 24.0 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does Canary Wharf College Crossharbour have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship; 90% of 2022/23 leavers were still in education, work or training six months on.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- 7 Selsdon Way, London, E14 9GL
- Telephone
- 020 3383 6100
- Website
- www.canarywharfcollege.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Geoff Roberts
- Type of school
- Free school (Free schools, free schools)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Christian
- Multi-academy trust
- University Schools Trust, East London (7 schools)
- Local authority
- Tower Hamlets
- Ward
- Blackwall & Cubitt Town
- Constituency
- Poplar and Limehouse
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2016
- URN
- 142879 · LAESTAB 2114003 · UKPRN 10056955
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.