Hampstead's schools are very good, and the primaries are where they are best. Every graded school in the borough has passed inspection. Over half of them were rated outstanding. The primary results are strong. The secondary figure is ordinary, and that is where most of the arguments over dinner start.
The ten state primaries in the area average about 109 in Key Stage 2 maths, comfortably above the score that marks the expected standard for an eleven-year-old. New End Primary School and Fitzjohn's Primary School are both inside the area, and Hampstead Parochial Church of England Primary School carries the place's name. A church school's admissions rules can weigh in things beyond distance, so parents who assume the one on the doorstep is theirs tend to find out otherwise in April.
Secondary is a smaller and less glamorous picture. The two state secondaries in the area, Haverstock School and The UCL Academy, average an Attainment 8 score of about 44 across their pupils. That is a respectable result and nowhere near the primary scores, and a family that bought for the primaries has a second decision coming when their eldest turns ten. A good many make it by looking at the independent schools nearby, and an equal number make it by looking at the bank balance first.
Camden as a whole has 25 schools holding a published Ofsted grade, and all 25 are good or outstanding. Thirteen are outstanding, and none of Camden's graded schools requires improvement or is inadequate. A further 26 settings in the borough have no published grade yet, which tells a parent nothing either way. The Ofsted count covers the whole borough of Camden, so a perfect record across the borough is a strong sign without promising anything about any one school.
Camden Council allocates places under its published admissions rules, and church schools set their own, so buying near a named school does not secure a place at it. The council publishes how far away the last child offered a place lived in recent years, and that distance is the figure to check against the house a family is looking at, since it can shrink to a few streets. Hampstead's families do their homework on this with the same energy the area's residents once gave to psychoanalysis.
Schools are one of Hampstead's strongest selling points. The primaries are excellent and Camden's inspection record is spotless, which is enough to forgive a secondary average that is merely respectable.