Barkingside's schools are its best argument for moving here. Nearly every graded school in the borough is rated good or better. None is rated inadequate. The primaries post strong maths results, and the secondaries hold up too. Getting a place at a good school is easy here. Getting a place at a particular one is up to the council's admissions rules.
There are seven mainstream state primaries in the area, and their pupils averaged a maths score of about 108 at the end of primary school. Fairlop Primary School serves the northern side and shares a name with one of the neighbourhoods this page covers. Mossford Green Primary School and John Bramston Primary School are among the others. Families here who argue about primaries are choosing between good options, which is an easier argument than most parents get.
The three mainstream state secondaries in the area averaged an Attainment 8 score of about 56, weighted by pupil numbers. Ilford County High School is the best-known name locally, and Forest Academy is another of the area's secondaries. Three schools is a small number for a whole area, so the move from primary to secondary is where families' plans most often run into the admissions rules.
Across Redbridge, Ofsted has graded 33 of 35 schools good or better, so all but two have one of the top two grades. Five are rated outstanding, two require improvement and none is inadequate. Another 29 settings in the borough have no published grade yet, which says nothing about their quality either way. When almost every school is good, the grade stops telling families which school to pick, and the deciding factors become distance and the date the application goes in.
Redbridge council allocates every place under its published admissions rules, so buying the house nearest a named school does not get a child a place there. Ask the council for the furthest distance at which places were offered at the school you want, and compare it with the walk from the house you are looking at. Each year, some families who bought for a particular primary find the last place went to a child who lives three streets nearer.
The schools are the strongest reason to live in Barkingside, and the primaries especially are a reason to buy here. The only uncertainty is which good school your child ends up at.