Bishop Stopford’s School Review 2026: Church of England secondary with a clear values core and an inclusive sixth form

Bishop Stopford’s School is a Church of England voluntary aided secondary in Enfield, serving students from Year 7 through Year 13. The school’s foundation purpose still shows up in everyday routines, with collective worship, Religious Education, and a stated commitment to serving families of all faiths and none sitting alongside a mainstream comprehensive intake. The most recent Ofsted inspection (24 to 25 January 2024) confirmed the school continues to be Good.

There is a lot here that will appeal to families who want a school that is values-led and explicitly community-minded. External evidence points to a welcoming culture, careful curriculum thinking, and strong safeguarding practice. The practical shape is also helpful for many households, with a clearly-published school day running from 8:30am registration to a 3:10pm finish.

Where the picture is more mixed is outcomes. FindMySchool’s GCSE and A-level outcome rankings place the school below England average overall, and the school’s Progress 8 figure is negative, suggesting students, as a group, make less progress than similar students nationally. For some families, the deciding question will be whether the school’s strong pastoral and ethos offer, plus the sixth form pathways, outweigh a results profile that is not among the strongest in England.

The school’s identity is anchored in Christian ethos, but it does not present as a closed community. In its admissions policy, the school states it was founded by the Church of England to be of service to all people, while also being thoroughly loyal to Church of England principles and practice, including daily acts of worship and Religious Education. That balance tends to suit families who appreciate a faith-shaped framework for school life, but want their child to mix naturally with peers from a wide range of backgrounds.

A distinctive feature is how intentionally the school links ethos to inclusion. The most recent Ofsted report describes a welcoming place where leaders aim for a harmonious community based on equality, with positive working relationships between pupils and adults. In practice, that matters for families considering Bishop Stopford’s as an 11 to 18 school. If a child benefits from routine, clear expectations, and a sense of belonging, a values framework can be stabilising, particularly during the jump from primary into Year 7.

The Church school dimension is reinforced through formal Church inspection. The SIAMS inspection (11 to 12 March 2024) presents the school as living up to its foundation, with students and staff of all faiths and none supported in spiritual development, and with discussion and enquiry about faith described as natural. The report also points to practical expressions of this ethos, including partnerships with local churches and a gospel choir that sings for community events.

A further marker of the school’s culture is the way it elevates student responsibility. Ofsted notes sixth form students act as positive role models and provide support to peers, which usually indicates that leadership opportunities are not confined to a small group, and that older students are visible in the wider life of the school. For families, the implication is that the sixth form is not just an add-on, it shapes the tone of the whole school.

The performance picture needs to be read with care, because different indicators measure different things. Attainment measures can reflect prior attainment, cohort context, and subject entry patterns; progress measures are designed to control for starting points, but can still be influenced by cohort mix and stability over time.

At GCSE, the school’s Progress 8 score is -0.54, which indicates below-average progress from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 4 when compared with similar students nationally. Attainment 8 is 36.5, and the school’s average EBacc APS is 3.02. In the FindMySchool GCSE rankings, Bishop Stopford’s is ranked 3,551st in England and 24th in Enfield for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). The underlying percentile band places the school below England average overall.

Subject entry and qualification mix matter here. The percentage of pupils achieving grades 5 or above across EBacc subjects is recorded at 70%, which suggests that where students are entered for this suite, many are reaching a secure pass standard. The implication for parents is that there may be a gap between the experience of students on an EBacc-heavy pathway and those on a more mixed or vocational route, which is not unusual in large comprehensives.

At A-level, the outcomes profile is more clearly below England averages. In the A-level measures provided, 4.76% of grades are A*, and 19.05% are A* to B combined, compared with an England average of 47.2% for A* to B. In FindMySchool’s A-level rankings, Bishop Stopford’s is ranked 2,368th in England and 22nd in Enfield for A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), again within the below-England-average band.

This does not mean the sixth form cannot be a good fit. Smaller sixth forms can deliver strong personal support, flexible pathways, and better day-to-day oversight, particularly for students who need structure. The key is matching the student to the pathway and support model, and understanding entry requirements for specific courses.

The strongest external evidence on teaching comes from the most recent Ofsted inspection, which focuses heavily on curriculum design and classroom practice. The report describes an ambitious curriculum that is carefully designed to build knowledge and understanding over time, including for pupils with SEND, and taught by teachers with strong subject knowledge.

An important practical detail is the emphasis on sequencing and revisiting core content. Ofsted highlights examples such as mathematics, where key skills are secured before new content is introduced, and English, where poetry analysis is revisited each year so knowledge sticks and can be applied to new material. For families, the implication is that the curriculum is not simply a list of topics, it is structured to support retention and transfer, which tends to benefit both higher attainers and students who need more repetition to feel confident.

Literacy is treated as a whole-school priority. The Ofsted report describes tailored support for pupils who need extra help with reading, designed to build confidence and fluency. This is a meaningful indicator for parents because reading fluency influences almost every GCSE and post-16 course, including vocational qualifications that are often assumed to be less literacy-heavy than they really are.

There are, however, areas where consistency is still a work in progress. Ofsted notes that in a few subjects the curriculum ambitions are not implemented as precisely as intended, limiting how securely pupils deepen their understanding. For parents, that signals a school that has a clear curriculum plan, but where classroom enactment may vary by subject area.

Bishop Stopford’s is an 11 to 18 school, so “next steps” includes both post-16 progression inside the school and post-18 destinations beyond it.

Post-16 progression within the school

The sixth form describes itself as smaller than average, with flexibility to build subject combinations where numbers allow, and with a broader offer including academic, vocational, and foundation pathways, including a three-year route for some students who need it. That structure tends to suit students who want to stay in a familiar setting after GCSEs, and those who benefit from closer day-to-day guidance.

Entry expectations are set out in the sixth form admissions policy. For Level 3 academic routes (A-level), the policy states a minimum total points score of 35, equivalent to seven GCSEs at grade 5, including mathematics and either English language or English literature, plus grade 6 in subjects a student wishes to study at A level, with maths and sciences preferring grade 7. Vocational Level 3 routes have a lower points threshold, and the foundation route is lower again. The implication is clear, the sixth form is inclusive in pathway design, but it still expects students to meet defined academic thresholds for the courses they choose.

Post-18 destinations

For the 2023/24 leaver cohort, the destination breakdown provided shows 38% progressing to university, 12% moving into employment, and 5% into further education. The cohort size recorded is 42. These are the published figures for that cohort, and some leavers may fall into other categories not shown.

While this is not a university-heavy profile, it can be a realistic reflection of a sixth form serving a broad intake. For some families, the more relevant question is whether the school supports multiple “Plan A and Plan B” routes well, including technical pathways, employment, and staged progression. The SIAMS report points to students being supported to progress into further and higher education, including those whose education has been disrupted, which aligns with the sixth form’s stated openness to students new to the country or learning English as an additional language.

Year 7 entry

Bishop Stopford’s participates in coordinated admissions. Families apply through their local authority, and the published local authority deadline for applications for September 2026 entry is 31 October 2025.

The admissions policy is unusually important reading here because the school is voluntary aided and uses a dual route. After priority categories such as looked-after children and siblings, the remaining places are divided equally between Foundation places and Open places. Foundation places are for students whose parents are regular worshippers in a Christian church, defined in the policy as at least fortnightly for a minimum of two years, evidenced via a supplementary form that is completed with the support of a priest or minister.

Capacity also matters for understanding competitiveness. The governing body states its intention to admit 120 children to Year 7 in September 2026. If applications exceed places, tie-breaks include distance, measured as the crow flies using the London Borough of Enfield’s system from the school’s main gate to the applicant’s home entrance.

Open events are typically part of the decision process for voluntary aided schools because families often want clarity on ethos and expectations. For the September 2026 transfer cycle, Enfield published an open evening date for the school of Tuesday 23 September 2025 at 6pm. Families should treat this as an indicative pattern, and check the school’s latest calendar for the current year’s arrangements.

Practical advice: if Bishop Stopford’s is a serious preference, plan early for the supplementary form, because it must be returned by the same deadline as the main application for September 2026 entry. Parents comparing multiple Enfield options should also use FindMySchool’s Map Search to check travel practicality alongside admissions criteria.

Sixth form entry

The sixth form states it welcomes internal and external applicants, and it sets published academic thresholds by route. For the 2026 intake cycle, the school published a sixth form application deadline of Friday 23 January 2026, with interviews and offers from March. Future years typically follow a similar late-January rhythm, but families should verify the live dates each cycle.

Pastoral strength is a recurring theme across external sources. Ofsted describes leaders ensuring pupils are happy and safe, with positive working relationships between pupils and adults, and safeguarding arrangements judged effective. This sort of language usually indicates that systems are established, staff are trained, and students know who to go to when they need help.

There is also clear evidence of a structured approach to personal development. Ofsted notes a carefully sequenced tutor programme that teaches responsibility and safety, including staying safe online. For parents, the implication is that pastoral does not rely solely on reactive support, it is embedded through planned curriculum time.

Attendance and punctuality are treated as priorities, with Ofsted describing active management and constructive work with families and other professionals to reduce barriers to attendance, alongside recent improvements in punctuality. This matters, because for many students, attendance is the difference between coping and falling behind.

A school’s extracurricular offer is only useful to parents if it is specific enough to picture. Bishop Stopford’s provides that specificity, both through formal inspection evidence and through its own enrichment pages.

Start with the clubs that external evidence singles out as genuinely popular. Ofsted highlights a basketball club as a strong example, alongside drama, strategy games, and chess, plus opportunities for students to take on leadership roles such as sports leaders delivering activities in local primary schools. The implication is that extracurricular life is doing two jobs at once, offering social breadth for students who want it, and building responsibility for those ready to lead.

The school’s own enrichment pages provide a clearer map of what students can actually join. Examples include Debate Club, Maths United Challenge, Christian Union, a Worship Group, Strategy Games, Gaming, a library extra-curricular offer, and subject-linked homework clubs. For a child who is academically able but not naturally sporty, clubs like Debate, Maths United Challenge, and Strategy Games can be a bridge into friendship groups and confidence. For students who are more practically motivated, the school’s emphasis on activities and visits can make learning feel purposeful.

Trips and visits are also a visible strand. Ofsted lists visits to the National Portrait Gallery, British Airways, and a geography field trip to Whitstable, with sixth form Health and Social Care students visiting a local care home. Enfield’s own secondary guide adds a wider flavour of visits referenced by the school, including cultural trips and other travel experiences.

Facilities matter because they determine what can be delivered consistently. Enfield’s published guide describes developed science laboratories, design and technology workshops supporting engineering, a fully equipped recording studio, and a suite of Mac computers for music recording and graphic design, alongside playing fields, tennis courts, a sports hall, and a gymnasium. These are concrete assets. The implication is that students interested in STEM, design, music technology, or sport are not constrained to theory alone.

The school publishes a clear daily timetable. Registration is at 8:30am, and the school day ends at 3:10pm. For families managing travel and siblings, that certainty is valuable.

Because this is a secondary school, wraparound care is not a standard expectation in the same way as for primary. Where families need early supervision or after-school structure, the practical solution is usually enrichment clubs or supervised study options. The school’s published club and enrichment structure indicates there are multiple after-school routes for students who benefit from staying later.

Travel planning is best treated as a personal calculation, because Enfield admissions are competitive and daily commute quality affects attendance and punctuality. Enfield Council’s secondary transfer guidance emphasises using open evenings and checking school information directly as part of planning. Families can also use FindMySchool tools to compare practical options across Enfield when building a shortlist.

• Results profile. The school’s Progress 8 score is -0.54 and FindMySchool outcome rankings place GCSE and A-level results below England average overall. Families who want a strongly results-driven environment should compare options carefully, and look closely at subject-level strength and course fit.

• Corridor behaviour. Classroom expectations are described as typically high, but the latest inspection also highlights that corridor behaviour can be boisterous at times, and that this is not always addressed quickly. If calm movement around site is a priority for your child, ask how this is being tightened.

• Faith route complexity. Admission is not just distance-based. The policy splits places between Foundation and Open, and Foundation applications rely on defined worship criteria and a supplementary form signed by a priest or minister. This suits some families well, but it requires early organisation.

• Sixth form thresholds. The sixth form offers inclusive routes, but Level 3 academic entry expects specific point scores and subject grades (including grade 6 in chosen A-level subjects, with grade 7 preferred for maths and sciences). Students may do better with a realistic plan built around strengths rather than optimistic subject choices.

Bishop Stopford’s School offers a clearly-articulated values framework, credible evidence of a welcoming culture, and an inclusive sixth form model designed to support a range of student starting points. It is not among the strongest in England on published exam outcomes, but it does offer thoughtful curriculum design, strong safeguarding, and a broad enrichment structure.

Who it suits: families who want a Church of England school that serves a mixed community, who value pastoral stability and identity, and who are realistic about results and proactive in choosing the right pathway, particularly post-16. The main hurdle is aligning admissions route requirements, and ensuring the academic track chosen matches the student’s profile.