Hammersmith & Fulham has the highest proportion of Outstanding schools at 40.6% — nearly three times the national average of 14%
In September 2024, Ofsted stopped grading state-funded schools with an overall effectiveness judgement. The August 2024 dataset represents the final complete snapshot of Ofsted's four-tier rating system — Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, and Inadequate — applied to nearly 22,000 schools over three decades.
This analysis ranks local authorities by the proportion of their open schools currently rated Outstanding at their most recent inspection.
London's dominance is overwhelming
Hammersmith and Fulham leads the country with 40.6% of its schools rated Outstanding — nearly three times the national average of 14%. Every single one of its 64 inspected schools is rated Good or Outstanding. Not one school in the borough is below Good.
Richmond upon Thames is close behind at 39.4%, with 98.5% of schools Good or better. Kensington and Chelsea completes the top three at 38.8%.
The most striking finding is in the composition of the top 15. Thirteen are London boroughs. The only exceptions are Bromley at 13th (technically a London borough but in outer south-east London) and no non-London authority at all in the top 14.
The full top 15
| # | Local Authority | Outstanding | Good+ | Schools |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hammersmith & Fulham | 40.6% | 100% | 64 |
| 2 | Richmond upon Thames | 39.4% | 98.5% | 66 |
| 3 | Kensington & Chelsea | 38.8% | 91.8% | 49 |
| 4 | Newham | 38.7% | 96.8% | 93 |
| 5 | Tower Hamlets | 36.4% | 94.9% | 99 |
| 6 | Haringey | 35.2% | 97.7% | 88 |
| 7 | Islington | 32.4% | 97.1% | 68 |
| 8 | Ealing | 32.3% | 94.9% | 99 |
| 9 | Lambeth | 31.8% | 91.8% | 85 |
| 10 | Wandsworth | 31.6% | 95.9% | 98 |
| 11 | Camden | 31.6% | 97.5% | 79 |
| 12 | Hackney | 30.3% | 80.8% | 99 |
| 13 | Bromley | 30.2% | 93.8% | 96 |
| 14 | Westminster | 28.6% | 92.9% | 70 |
| 15 | Merton | 27.4% | 95.2% | 62 |
Several patterns stand out. Newham at 38.7% and Tower Hamlets at 36.4% are among London's most deprived boroughs, yet they rank 4th and 5th nationally for Outstanding schools. This mirrors findings from our KS2 attainment analysis, which found London's deprived boroughs also produce some of England's best primary school results.
Hackney at 12th is the most polarised authority in the table. While 30.3% of its schools are Outstanding, only 80.8% are Good or better — meaning nearly one in five Hackney schools is rated Requires Improvement or Inadequate. No other top-15 authority has more than 9% below Good.
A regional picture
London stands apart at 25.8% Outstanding — nearly double every other region. The South East and North East are closest at 14.6% and 14.4%, roughly in line with the national average.
The gap at the bottom is significant. The East Midlands at 9.3% and South West at 9.1% have less than one in ten schools rated Outstanding — roughly a third of London's rate.
This is not simply a wealth effect. The North East, one of England's least affluent regions, outperforms wealthier areas like the South West and East of England. London's advantage appears to be driven by factors specific to the capital: a deep pool of teachers, intensive school improvement programmes, and a culture of competitive performance that emerged from the London Challenge initiative of the 2000s.
The other end of the table
| # | Local Authority | Outstanding | Below Good | Schools |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isle of Wight | 2.1% | 19.1% | 47 |
| 2 | Portsmouth | 4.3% | 17.4% | 46 |
| 3 | Central Bedfordshire | 4.4% | 8.8% | 113 |
| 4 | Dorset | 4.9% | 14.8% | 122 |
| 5 | Torbay | 5.1% | 10.3% | 39 |
The Isle of Wight has just one Outstanding school out of 47 — a rate of 2.1%, nearly seven times lower than the national average. It also has the highest proportion of schools below Good at 19.1%.
Portsmouth at 4.3% Outstanding is the only other authority below 5%. Both are relatively small, geographically isolated areas with limited school-to-school collaboration networks.
Dorset, Central Bedfordshire and Torbay round out the bottom five. Rural and coastal authorities feature heavily at the lower end — a pattern that has persisted across multiple inspection cycles.
Why this matters now
The August 2024 data is the last time every state-funded school in England will carry a graded Ofsted judgement. From September 2024, inspections produce diagnostic reports without an overall grade.
This means the Outstanding label attached to 14% of England's schools is now frozen. Schools rated Outstanding will carry that badge indefinitely — unless a future policy change reintroduces grading. Schools rated Requires Improvement or Inadequate will continue to be monitored, but the four-tier system that shaped school accountability for three decades is over.
For parents using Ofsted ratings to compare schools, the practical implication is clear: these ratings will become increasingly outdated. A school rated Good in 2022 may have improved significantly by 2026, but its published rating will not reflect that. The data in this analysis represents the most complete picture we will ever have of England's schools under the graded system.
About This Data
Ofsted, State-funded schools inspections and outcomes as at 31 August 2024. National headline figures (14% Outstanding, 77% Good, 8% RI, 2% Inadequate, ~22,000 schools) are from the official Ofsted statistical release. LA-level rankings are calculated from the most recent inspection rating of each open school in our database (19,372 schools with rated inspections). Graded Ofsted inspections of state-funded schools ended in September 2024.