The Courtyard Islington
The Courtyard Islington is a special free school in London for boys and girls aged 13 to 19. It has 76 pupils, 4 more than it has places for. About 57 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Holloway Road, Islington, London, N7 8LT020 3859 6350thecourtyardislington.orgHeadteacher Deborah Shepherd headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 22 February 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
14 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 | 2019 | 2018 | Islington | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 14 | 10 | 19 | 13 | 8 | 9 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 5.6 | 5.1 | 48.7 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -3.20 | -2.18 | -2.98 | -2.70 | -1.53 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 50% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 13% | 11% | 68% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 0.20 | 0.00 | 0.14 | 0.06 | 0.29 | 0.28 | 4.42 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 50% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | – | – | 1.7 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | – | – | 0.6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | – | 5.1 | – | – |
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
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 Islington council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with autism, speech, language and communication.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Islington with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (52), emotional and mental health (14), language and communications needs (7), Moderate learning difficulty (2), Hearing impairment (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 76 | 68 | 67 | 55 | 49 | 48 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 58% | 52% | 57% | 53% | 47% | 46% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 16% | 19% | 15% | 15% | 18% | 10% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 16% | 16% | 14% | 10% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 84% | 84% | 86% | 90% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 80.9% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 19.1% | 13.1% | 8.5% | 12.4% | 24.1% | 11.5% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 9.7% | 9.1% | 6.7% | 10.0% | 23.9% | 8.5% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 9.4% | 3.9% | 1.8% | 2.4% | 0.3% | 3.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 50.0% | 44.8% | 27.0% | 39.3% | 78.6% | 12.5% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 19 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 100%, compared with 100% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 100% | 92% | 91% | 86% |
| Education | 100% | 92% | 91% | 86% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 0% | 8% | 0% | 14% |
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 special 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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary Magdalene Academy | Academy | 230 m | 1,561 | Outstanding 2023 | 91 | Compare |
| New River College Secondary | Pupil referral unit | 340 m | 26 | Good 2024 | – | Compare |
| Drayton Park Primary School | Council | 390 m | 277 | Not inspected | 90 | Compare |
| Laycock Primary School | Council | 420 m | 217 | Good 2024 | 18 | Compare |
| London Metropolitan University | Higher education institutions | 480 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School | Roman Catholic | 530 m | 434 | Good 2022 | 38 | Compare |
| Canonbury Primary School | Council | 550 m | 441 | Good 2022 | 87 | Compare |
| Samuel Rhodes MLD School | Council | 630 m | 130 | Report card 2026 | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Courtyard Islington a good school?
The Courtyard Islington doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in February 2023.
What is The Courtyard Islington's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated The Courtyard Islington good at its last full inspection on 22 February 2023.
How good are The Courtyard Islington's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 0% 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 2.0, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished well over a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does The Courtyard Islington have?
76 pupils aged 13 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 72 places, so it is 106% full.
What is attendance like at The Courtyard Islington?
Pupils were in school 80.9% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 50% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does The Courtyard Islington have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for autism, speech, language and communication. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does The Courtyard Islington have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Holloway Road, Islington, London, N7 8LT
- Telephone
- 020 3859 6350
- Website
- www.thecourtyardislington.org
- Headteacher
- Headteacher Deborah Shepherd
- Type of school
- Special free school (Free schools special, free schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 13-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Single-academy trust
- The Courtyard Islington (1 schools)
- Local authority
- Islington
- Ward
- Laycock
- Constituency
- Islington South and Finsbury
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 2 September 2013 (new provision)
- URN
- 139418 · LAESTAB 2067000 · UKPRN 10041657
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.
- 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.