Apex Secondary School for Girls

A girls' secondary that opened its doors only in February 2025 is still writing its first chapter, and Apex Secondary School for Girls is exactly that: a small, independent Islamic school in Ilford finding its feet. It sits at 287 Cranbrook Road in the London Borough of Redbridge, a short step from Valentines Park, and takes girls from age 11 to 16. The school is run by the Apex Trust, the same group behind Apex Primary School and its companion Apex Secondary School for Boys, and is led by head teacher Mrs Meherun Hamid. With a registered capacity of 125, this is a deliberately intimate setting rather than a large institution. Because the school is so new, there are no public exam results, leaver destinations, or graded inspection outcomes yet. What can be assessed is its vision, its leadership, its curriculum design, and the readiness it demonstrated before it opened.

The character here is set by faith and by scale. Apex is an independent Islamic school, and its identity runs through three principles the Apex Trust states plainly: Islam, Ethics and Education, abbreviated to IEE. The trust's vision is to nurture talent grounded in Islamic ethics and to send capable young people out into a fair and prosperous society. The school's own slogan, Helping Young Feet Climb Mountains, captures the ambition behind a small intake: every girl is meant to be known and stretched, not lost in a crowd.

Daily life is shaped by a set of values the school calls FITRA: Faithful, Informed, Tolerant, Responsible and Active. These are not decorative. The curriculum is built to produce confident young Muslim women who can hold their own in modern Britain, combining academic study with spiritual and moral formation. Arabic and Islamic studies sit alongside the standard secondary subjects, and the school describes a student-centred, tarbiyah approach to teaching, meaning education as character cultivation rather than exam drilling alone.

Physically, this is a school in a converted building rather than a purpose-built campus. The premises were recently turned from office space into classrooms, and the rooms are bright with natural light, spacious enough for classes of up to 25, and properly equipped for teaching. The location is a genuine asset: Valentines Park is on the doorstep, and a nearby leisure centre provides the facilities for physical education that a compact site cannot hold on its own. The result is a school that feels personal and contained rather than sprawling, which is precisely the point for families seeking a close-knit environment for their daughters.

There are no results to report yet, and that is the single most important fact about this school in 2026. Apex Secondary School for Girls opened in February 2025, so it has not entered a single cohort for GCSE, has no value-added measure of progress, and holds no England or local position in any results table. The proprietary FindMySchool rankings, built from official examination data, cannot place the school until it has a published set of results, which will not happen for some years given that the first intake has only recently begun Key Stage 3.

This absence is normal for a school this young, but it changes how a decision should be made. The usual benchmarks parents lean on, headline pass rates, progress scores and league-table standing, simply do not exist here. The only formal external assessment on record is a pre-registration inspection, carried out in January 2025 before the school admitted any students. That visit examined plans, policies, premises and staffing rather than the lived reality of lessons and outcomes. Until the school has been running long enough for a full graded inspection and a first set of public examinations, families are weighing intent and preparation, not proven academic performance.

What the school does have is a clearly designed curriculum, and this was the strongest theme to emerge before it opened. Apex teaches a broad set of subjects across all year groups: English, mathematics, science, history, geography, physical education, Arabic, computing, business studies, religious education, Islamic studies, citizenship and art. Detailed schemes of work have been written for every year group, and subject-specialist staff were recruited before opening, with classrooms equipped for them to teach. For a new school, having specialists and full schemes of work ready on day one is a stronger starting position than many small independents manage.

The teaching model has its own language. Apex follows a bespoke UNITY curriculum delivered through a pedagogy it calls RUSHD, a student-centred approach built on a knowledge-rich base and values-led education. The intention is for girls to gain solid foundations across the core subjects while developing broader competencies and discovering individual talents. A planned assessment system tests prior knowledge on entry and tracks progress through the year, with reports to parents at least annually. For families, the practical upside of a small school running a planned, specialist-taught curriculum is attention: in classes capped around 25, and with a tiny overall roll, a teacher can know each girl's strengths and gaps quickly.

The caveat is that all of this is, for now, a design rather than a demonstrated result. Schemes of work and recruited specialists are necessary foundations, but the quality of teaching over time can only be judged once the school has taught real cohorts and been inspected on that basis. The early signals are encouraging; the proof will come later.

It is too early to know where Apex students go after Year 11, because the first cohort is still working through the lower secondary years and no group has yet sat GCSEs or left the school. There are no destination figures, no record of sixth-form transfers, and no leaver outcomes to report. As an 11 to 16 school with no sixth form, Apex will in time prepare girls to move on at 16 to local sixth forms, sixth-form colleges or further education, and the trust states a clear intention to support that step.

Careers provision has been planned in detail from the outset. The school sets out an intention to give unbiased, up-to-date careers information, advice and guidance to help each girl plan her next move, which matters most precisely because it ends at Year 11 rather than carrying students through to 18. Families should treat the destinations picture as something to ask about directly and to revisit once the first cohorts have moved on, rather than a record they can inspect today.

Safeguarding was judged effective before the school opened, which is a meaningful baseline. Before opening, inspectors confirmed that safeguarding leadership and staff training met required standards, including formal safer-recruitment procedures and a compliant vetting register. For any new school, getting these structures right before opening is the non-negotiable first test, and Apex cleared it.

Pastoral provision is woven into the faith ethos. The school runs a full programme for personal, social, health and economic education, including age-appropriate relationships and sex education and due regard to fundamental British values. Spiritual and moral development is supported through assemblies and an emphasis on Islamic manners and self-reflection, and the FITRA values give the school a consistent vocabulary for behaviour and character. A suitable medical room sits close to washing and toilet facilities, and first-aid trained staff are in place. As a single-sex girls' environment with a small roll, the school is well positioned to offer the close, personal pastoral relationships that many families specifically seek, with adults able to spot when an individual girl needs support.

For a school of this size and age, enrichment is necessarily growing rather than established, but the building blocks are visible. The Apex model encourages girls to deepen one or more focus areas through specialist clubs that run before or after the school day, with examples including a hifdh (Qur'an memorisation) club, a fencing club and an archery club. Physical education leans on the school's outdoor neighbour and nearby leisure facilities, with activities such as archery and ice skating featuring in the trust's wider programme, and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award is part of the broader offer.

Two practical features support this. First, the school sits next to Valentines Park, giving easy access to green space for sport and outdoor learning. Second, a nearby leisure centre provides the indoor sports facilities the converted premises do not contain, so physical education can run properly despite the compact site. Beyond sport, the trust's wider community life includes an active parent support group that has organised fundraisers and events, which points to the kind of family involvement a small school depends on.

Parents should expect this side of school life to expand as the roll grows. A first cohort in a brand-new school cannot sustain the breadth of ensembles, teams and societies that an established school offers, so the extracurricular picture in 2026 is a foundation, with room to build. Asking the school how its clubs and trips have developed over the past year is a good way to gauge momentum.

The school does not publish a specific annual tuition figure for the secondary phase, so families should confirm current fees directly with the school before committing. What Apex does state publicly is that it aims to keep tuition affordable and that scholarships and bursaries are available, which it frames as part of making a quality Islamic education accessible to more families. A £20 registration fee per child applies at the application stage. Bursaries are means-tested help based on family income, while scholarships are merit-based awards; because the school has not published the exact values or income thresholds for either, parents should ask the school for the precise terms and amounts that apply for the current year. Given the absence of published figures, treat any third-party fee estimate with caution and rely on the school's own confirmation.

Entry is direct to the school rather than through the local authority, which is standard for an independent. Families begin by completing a registration form and paying a £20 registration fee per child. The school then asks for the girl's current or most recent school report, and once the form, payment and report are received, it arranges an interview before deciding whether to offer a place. Offers are confirmed once fees are settled. There is no published competitive entrance examination; the process is built around the report and interview, which suits a school focused on fit with its ethos as much as on prior attainment.

Because Apex is new and small, with a capacity of 125 across five year groups, places in any given year group are limited simply by the size of the school. The main entry point is Year 7 at age 11, though other year groups may have places available while the school fills up, which is worth asking about directly. Families interested in joining are encouraged to visit: the school welcomes arranged visits outside open days, so prospective parents can see the premises and meet staff. As an independent school, Apex does not operate a distance-based catchment, so girls can come from across Redbridge and the surrounding area; the Cranbrook Road location makes it most convenient for families in the immediate east London and Essex border neighbourhoods. You can use the FindMySchool map search to gauge travel from a specific home address.

Apex Secondary School for Girls is on Cranbrook Road in Ilford, within the London Borough of Redbridge, with a second trust address on Argyle Road nearby. The Cranbrook Road site is well served by public transport into Ilford and benefits from its position beside Valentines Park. Physical education makes use of a nearby leisure centre, since the converted premises do not include large indoor sports halls. Specific daily hours, term dates and any wraparound or after-school care arrangements are not published in detail, so families should confirm these directly with the school, along with arranging a visit. The trust's habit of running enrichment clubs before and after the main school day suggests some flexibility around the core timetable, though the exact provision should be checked.

No track record yet. This is the single most important point. The school opened in February 2025, so there are no GCSE results, no rankings, no leaver destinations and no full graded inspection. Families are buying into a vision and a plan, not a proven set of outcomes, and the first real evidence will not arrive until the school has taught full cohorts and been inspected on its actual teaching.

A faith-specific, single-sex offer. Apex is an independent Islamic school for girls, with Arabic, Islamic studies and a strongly faith-led ethos running through daily life. This will be exactly right for some families and not a fit for others; the religious character is central, not incidental, so it is worth being sure the ethos matches what you want for your daughter.

Small scale and a converted building. With a capacity of 125 and premises adapted from offices, the school cannot offer the breadth of specialist facilities, large sports halls or extensive extracurricular range of a big established school. It compensates with small classes and access to Valentines Park and a local leisure centre, but parents who prioritise on-site facilities should visit and weigh this up.

Fees not transparent online. With no published tuition figure for the secondary phase, families must contact the school directly to understand the full cost, including what scholarships and bursaries might reduce it.

Apex Secondary School for Girls is a brand-new, small independent Islamic school whose first task, getting its safeguarding, premises, staffing and curriculum ready, was sound enough to clear inspection before it opened in February 2025. Its appeal is clear: a values-led, single-sex education for Muslim girls, taught in small classes by subject specialists, with Arabic and Islamic studies built in alongside the core academic subjects, and with green space and leisure facilities close at hand. What it cannot yet show is results, rankings, destinations or a graded inspection, because it simply has not been open long enough.

It is best suited to families in and around Redbridge who actively want a faith-centred, intimate girls' school and are comfortable being part of an institution still establishing itself. The main caveat is the obvious one: there is no performance history to judge, so the decision rests on the strength of the vision, the calibre of the leadership and how well the ethos matches your family, rather than on outcomes that do not yet exist. Families who need proven exam results before committing may prefer to revisit once the school has its first cohorts and a full inspection on record.