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Central Foundation Boys’ School

Comprehensive

National rank

267=

244=

Rank last year

61^%

A-level

36^%

GCSE

Need to know

Head teacher Jamie Brownhill

Attendance 93.6%

Gender of entry Boys

Send pupils* 30.6% *Special educational needs and disabilities

Total pupils 1,133

Pupils on free school meals 46.6%

Progress 8

Progress 8 is a measure of the development a school cohort/pupils makes from year 6 to year 11. The data used is from 2024. There will be no KS2 updates for 2025 or 2026 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The government is consulting on an improved version of Progress 8 and Attainment 8

WELL ABOVE AVERAGE

Our methodology

Results

Grade

A*/A

A*-B

Grade

9/8/7

What the school inspection says

“The head teacher, together with governors and leaders at all levels, has brought about rapid improvements in the school’s performance since the last inspection ... The students’ achievement in English, mathematics and science is particularly strong ... The many activities outside the classroom are much appreciated by students. Music and sport are particularly strong ... The school promotes students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development exceptionally well. Leaders are very diligent in ensuring that extremism has no place within the school. Students are very well prepared for life in modern Britain.”

Inspection

2015

In detail *

Read the full report

*Ofsted no longer makes an overall effectiveness judgment in inspections of state-funded schools. A five-point grading scale, including a new “exceptional” grade was introduced in November 2025.

About the school

This is a voluntary-aided comprehensive school in Islington, London.
Established in 1865, it was originally known as the Middle Class School of London. The school was renamed after the creation of the Central Foundation Schools Trust in 1890.
Its motto, Spe, Labore, Fide (“By hope, by work, by faith”), captures the school’s longstanding emphasis on aspiration, diligence and integrity.
The school maintains close links with its sister institution, Central Foundation Girls’ School in Tower Hamlets, reflecting their shared founding trust and historical mission.
At its March 2025 Ofsted inspection, the school was rated outstanding in every category.
A major multimillion-pound redevelopment project by Hawkins\Brown architects has transformed the site in recent years and earned several major architectural awards in 2024 and 2025.

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info@cfbs.islington.sch.uk

Telephone

020 7253 3741

Website

centralfoundationboys.co.uk

Address

Cowper Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 4SH

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