Hendon's schools are a real reason to move here. Almost every school in the borough that Ofsted has graded comes out good or better. The local primaries post strong results. The secondaries hold up too. Most of the worry for parents here is getting a place, because quality is rarely the problem.
There are seven mainstream state primaries in the area, and their pupils averaged about 106 in the Key Stage 2 maths tests sat at the end of primary school. Hasmonean Primary School, Parkfield Primary School, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School and Sunnyfields Primary School are among them, close enough together that the school run is mostly a walk. With seven to choose from, the choosing tends to start when the eldest is still in a pushchair.
At secondary level, the three mainstream state secondaries in the area averaged about 50 on Attainment 8, the score built from each pupil's best eight GCSE-level subjects and weighted by pupil numbers. Hendon School carries the town's name, Hasmonean High School for Boys is one of the three, and St Mary's and St John's runs from primary age through to secondary. Middlesex University's campus is also in Hendon. Anyone looking at Hendon School for its name alone will notice that the other two secondaries are fighting for the same pupils.
Across the London Borough of Barnet, Ofsted has graded 59 schools and settings, and 57 of them are good or outstanding, nearly all of them. Twelve hold an outstanding grade, two are rated requires improvement and none is inadequate. Another 66 have no published grade yet and appear in neither count. The figures are for Barnet as a whole, so they describe the borough's schools generally and none of Hendon's in particular.
None of this buys a place. Barnet Council allocates school places using each school's published admissions rules, and owning a house near a well-known school entitles you to nothing beyond the walk past it. Ask Barnet's admissions team how places were actually allocated last year at the specific school you're thinking of, and read the faith and sibling criteria where a school has them. In Hendon, families with children of the same age compare notes on offer day much as other neighbours compare boundary walls.
Schools are one of Hendon's real strengths. In a place where so much else is a trade-off, this is the part buyers can count on, as long as the admissions rules go their way.