The schools are one of the best things about Enfield Town. Every school in the borough with a published Ofsted grade is rated good or better. The primaries around here score above the expected standard in maths. Two schools in the borough are rated outstanding. The hard part is getting a place, not finding a good school.
There are nine mainstream state primaries in the area, and their pupils average a scaled score of about 105 in the key stage 2 maths test. Bush Hill Park Primary School serves the planned streets to the south-east, and St Andrew's CofE Primary School shares its name with the parish church that has stood on the north side of the old marketplace since the fourteenth century. Plenty of Enfield institutions are older than the suburb around them, and the primary schools are part of that pattern.
At secondary level, the four mainstream state schools in the area have a pupil-weighted Attainment 8 score of about 46. Chace Community School and Bishop Stopford's School are among the nearest names. An average of 46 is respectable. It is also less striking than the primary results, so families comparing secondary schools have more reason to look at each school's results individually than to rely on the borough's reputation. John Keats began a translation of the Aeneid while at school in Enfield, so the homework standard has been set high for a long time.
Ofsted has graded 42 schools across the London Borough of Enfield, and all 42 are rated good or better, which means every school with a published grade. Two of them are outstanding, and none is rated requires improvement or inadequate. Places are allocated under Enfield Council's published admissions rules, so living near a particular school does not secure a place, however close the front door is to the gate. The admissions criteria for the specific school are the thing to read before setting a budget around it. A borough with no struggling schools still runs a waiting list, and the parents who assume otherwise usually find out in spring.
Schools are one of Enfield Town's real strengths. Parents here are choosing between good options, and the real challenge is getting a place at the one they want.