Stratford's schools behave better than its shopping centre. Every school Ofsted has graded across the borough is good or better. Nearly half are outstanding. The primaries come out well above the line in maths. The part a parent can't control is the admissions letter.
The 12 mainstream state primaries in the area averaged a maths score of about 107 in the end-of-primary tests, which is comfortably above the standard those tests are set around. Carpenters Primary School on the Carpenters Estate stands next to the old Carpenters' Institute, and the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, a City of London livery company, still makes regular grants to it. Maryland Primary School and Colegrave Primary School serve other parts of the area. A City livery company paying into a Newham primary is an arrangement the regeneration brochures somehow never mention.
The two mainstream state secondaries in the area averaged an Attainment 8 score of about 55, weighted by pupil numbers. That covers only two schools, so one strong year group can move it. Sarah Bonnell School is one of the oldest girls' schools in England and moved to its Deanery Road site from Forest Gate. It takes girls only, so families with sons need to plan around a different secondary from the start. School 21 teaches across the primary and secondary years, and London Academy of Excellence is also in the area.
Newham has 50 schools and settings with a published Ofsted grade, and all 50 are good or better, so the borough has none on the lower grades. Of those 50, 22 are Outstanding and 28 Good, with none rated Requires Improvement or Inadequate. Another 38 settings in the borough have no published grade yet and aren't counted either way. Places are allocated under the council's published admissions rules, so a house near Carpenters or Maryland gives a child no claim on a place there. The borough has no weak school to fall back on, but it still has queues for the good ones.
Schools are one of Stratford's real strengths. A family here has better odds of a well-run classroom than of a seat on the train at eight in the morning.