Best secondary schools in Dulwich

Leading the pack is co-ed Kingsdale Foundation School in leafy Alleyn Park, which our reviewer described as ‘a vibrant school with a growing academic capability and a uniquely inspiring daily environment’. It reserves 15 per cent of its year 7 intake for music and sport scholars and attracts pupils from across south London.

The Charter School North Dulwich, which opened in Red Post Hill in 2000, attracts more year 7 applicants than there are places. This co-ed school prides itself on being a community school and doesn’t have a catchment area. Even so, geography is a major factor in a successful application and the school routinely offers its last year 7 place to a candidate living no more than one kilometre away – just over half a mile.

The Charter School East Dulwich opened in 2016 to relieve the strain on senior school places in Dulwich and is now one of the most oversubscribed new schools in the country. Built on the site of the old East Dulwich Community Hospital, its outside space is limited but results are good – 33 per cent of GCSEs gained by year 11 pupils in 2024 were grades 7-9.

Other choices include Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich and Harris Boys’ Academy East Dulwich, situated on opposite sides of Peckham Rye. Both have become more popular with Dulwich families in recent years – largely because so many schools in the area are oversubscribed – and typically record above average GCSE results. 

Slightly further afield, Sydenham School in Forest Hill is increasingly in demand (it’s all girls till year 11 and joins forces with all-boys Forest Hill School in the sixth form). ‘It’s a diverse school with some great facilities,’ an impressed Dulwich local told us.

Creative youngsters looking to follow in the footsteps of showbiz luminaries like Adele, Jessie J, Tom Holland and Raye head out of Dulwich to The BRIT School in Croydon. Places at the only free performing arts and technology school in the country are fiercely contested but the journey from East Dulwich station to Selhurst only takes 30 minutes or so. Then it’s a short walk to the school, which boasts two theatres, a TV studio with top-of-the-range cameras and editing facilities, nine art studios, three radio studios and eight music rooms.

Parents wishing to send their children to grammar schools primarily look to the nearby borough of Sutton. Wallington County Grammar School, Sutton Grammar School and Wilson’s School for boys and Wallington High School and Nonsuch High School for Girls are part of Sutton’s co-ordinated admissions scheme and are all accessible by train, albeit a bit of a hike. ‘Most come from Croydon and Sutton but such is the draw of this school that bright sparks may commute long distances equipped with determination, railcards and parental enthusiasm for excellent free schooling,’ said our reviewer of Wallington County Grammar School.

The train journey to Orpington for St Olave’s Grammar School (boys) and Newstead Wood School (girls) may be a stretch too far for some Dulwich families – but by no means all. St Olave’s admits almost entirely according to rank order of score in the 11-plus admissions test and so Dulwich locals need not fear geography counting against them. One parent said of the school: ‘Very good, very impressive, very supportive. And we haven't had to pay for it.’ Newstead Wood School is similarly high achieving and has a nine-mile priority admissions zone which includes the southern half of Dulwich.

Kingsdale Foundation School has a thriving sixth form and achieves stellar results, with a good handful of students heading to Oxbridge or medical school in each of the last few years. The Charter School North Dulwich is highly sought-after in the sixth form. Three-quarters of students head to Russell Group universities and nine scooped Oxbridge places in 2024.

Out of the immediate area, some teens choose Southwark College, which offers a vast range of academic and vocational courses and was rated as good by Ofsted in 2024.

At secondary level, The Charter School East Dulwich has launched an Autism Enhanced Provision, aimed at supporting up to 25 children and young people with a diagnosis of autism and communication and interaction needs. At The Charter School North Dulwich, around 20 per cent of pupils have special educational needs, from dyslexia and dyspraxia, ADHD and autism to physical disabilities. A team of 23 staff supports students in mainstream classes but also offers small group withdrawals, extra literacy and maths intervention sessions, touch-typing, handwriting and reading clubs and input from external agencies.

State-funded special schools in Southwark include Spa School Camberwell (4-16s) and Spa School Bermondsey (11-19s) for pupils with autism, Highshore School in Camberwell, for youngsters aged 11 to 19 with complex mixed needs, and Tuke School in Peckham Rye, for young people aged 11 to 19 with severe and complex learning difficulties. State secondary schools in Lambeth for children with special educational needs include Elm Court School, Lansdowne School, Turney School and Vanguard School.