The schools serving Highbury are very good, and the hard part is getting a place. Nearly every graded school in the borough is rated good or better. Several are outstanding. Only one has failed its inspection. On the whole, parents here are choosing between good schools and other good schools.
Ofsted has graded 25 schools across Islington, and 24 of them are good or outstanding, almost all of the graded schools in the borough. Seven of those carry the outstanding grade. None is graded requires improvement, and one is inadequate. A further 32 settings in the borough have no published overall grade yet, so they sit outside those counts and tell you nothing either way. This is a borough-wide picture, so the one inadequate school could be anywhere in Islington, and the local outlook depends on which schools are near you.
The primaries close to Highbury include Drayton Park Primary School, Gillespie Primary School, St Joan of Arc RC Primary School and St John's Highbury Vale CofE Primary School. Places are allocated under Islington council's published admissions rules, so living round the corner from one of them does not mean a child gets in, and the two church schools also have their own faith criteria, which can make a parent's church attendance part of the application. Islington publishes how places were allocated in past years, and that is worth reading before trusting a seller's description of which school goes with which house. Families who find the rules after the offers land in April learn them the expensive way.
At secondary level, Highbury Fields School is the one that carries the area's name, City of London Academy Highbury Grove is also local, and The London Screen Academy gives older students a specialist option. Three secondaries close together make a real choice, and for parents who have lived through a one-school town, that is close to a luxury. One primary that some older guides list for the area has since closed, so check that any school you're relying on is still open.
Schools are one of Highbury's real strengths, and the only big catch is the admissions rules, which apply the same way to everyone however much they paid for their house.