Peckham's schools are one of its real strengths, and the inspection record around it has almost nothing to apologise for. Forty-six of the 47 graded schools are good or better. Fifteen of those are outstanding. One needs to improve, and none has failed. Parents who arrive expecting a fight over the one decent school find the fight is mostly over which good one.
Southwark is the area these counts describe: of the 47 schools in the borough with a published Ofsted grade, 46 are rated good or better, which is all but one. Fifteen are outstanding and 31 good, one is rated requires improvement, and none is inadequate. Another 41 settings hold no published overall grade yet, and that means unknown, nothing worse. The borough-wide record is strong enough that Peckham parents comparing inspection reports late into the evening are mostly choosing between good and a different flavour of good.
Two schools carry the district's name. Harris Academy Peckham is one of the two secondaries on the local list, alongside The St Thomas the Apostle College, and Harris Primary Academy Peckham Park takes the younger end. Rye Oak Primary School borrows its name from the Rye, and Bellenden Primary School, Bird In Bush School and John Donne Primary School are among the other primaries in and around the district. Southwark Council allocates places by its published admissions rules, so living close to any of these buys a better chance at most and never a seat, and the useful thing to read is the council's admissions criteria for the specific school with last year's offers in mind. The Department for Transport modelled the trip in 2019 at about five minutes on foot to the nearest primary and about 11 to the nearest secondary. The teenage case for a lift to school has very little to stand on here.
Four nearby schools have closed and are no longer options, whatever an older map or forum thread says, among them a Church of England primary and two free schools. Anyone shortlisting from a list printed a few years ago should check each name is still open first.
Schools are where Peckham most clearly pulls its weight. Families who can make the housing work land in a borough where a weak inspection report is the rare exception.